


Bleach de a lá Fleur

by fleurisms



Category: Bleach
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Anime violence, Awkward Romance, Book One, Burn The Witch, Canon - Manga, Canon Divergence - Post Fullbring Arc, Canon Divergence - Soul Society, Canon Divergence for first arcs, Canon-Typical Violence, Comedy, Drama, Drama & Romance, Eventual Romance, Eventually follows manga, Expanded Universe, F/F, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Friendship/Love, Gen, Humor, M/M, Multi, Original Character(s), Romance, Self-Indulgent, Teen Romance, Teenagers Acting Like Teenagers, Y'all in for a treat, addition to canon, snarky comments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-03-08 23:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18905134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleurisms/pseuds/fleurisms
Summary: 𝑼𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒔, 𝒏𝒖𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒎 𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔.︴Standing as one, faith is never alone is a motto that many live by. Those who live by it best are none other than the North American Branch.  Sometimes it takes the strength of friendship, the solidarity of family, and intrepidity to show your true mettle. No one has stronger friendships, familial bonds, and perseverance than Briar Rose and Aneri Magnolia. A humanoid database, the next rock’em sock’em robots champ, a somewhat down-to-earth Gaston, and your resident telenovela are completely different in personalities with common goals: eat, sleep, rinse, and repeat. But in a swift turn of events, their problems just got a whole lot bigger. Ghost chases, possessions, and hollows? Oh my! These four teens are in for a rude awakening as something they’ve never experienced before comes to town.With new trials and tribulations making their lives harder, some “outside” help is much needed. Because when you're standing as one, your faith is never shaken.—Based on Kubo’s One Shot “𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑡𝑐𝘩”





	1. Mission Prologue: A Presence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a presence can mean many things.

  _August 20, 2018_

_2:15:45 PM_

_Southern Sector, New Orleans, Louisiana_

* * *

A  _ presence _ . A term that can mean existing, occurring or being present in a place. In a different context, people say that it’s commandeering the attention in a room with an energy so palpable, that the mass has no choice but to be drawn to it. When you see someone with a grand sense of being, it’s tough to ignore, and even harder not to bask in their greatness and admire. Like for instance, how athletic, or hardworking.  How they get the job done like no other. Diligent, friendly, ferociously handsome. The list,  _ oh _ it was endless, and still being added to.  When talking about someone like him, one couldn’t help but to applaud and record his greatness.  Limited edition, autographed copy. The best guy you could ever meet. He could move mountains and redirect streams, he coul--

“Earth to,  _ no one’s quick as Gaston _ ,” Maya whistles and taps him on the shoulder. Ricky turns, wiping some excess sweat from his brow, the ever-present smile gracing his features as he looks to the girl. “Stop narrating your life like that, it’s really annoying.”

“Oh, you heard that?” Ricky laughs, shaking his head, drops of sweat flying from his wet strands. Maya’s face folded into a grimace, stepping out of his disgusting, sweat-drizzling range. “I mean, I can’t help it. When you’re as great as I am, you have to let the people know, naw mean? I’m lah yeah wit’ da yeah.”

“The people? I don’t particularly think your own attention span is stupid enough to sit through your conceit,” she threw a towel at his head, which he decided to just drape around his neck. Instead of wiping his sweaty, nasty head. “And, stop using slang like you actually know how to use it.” Maya rolls her eyes as Ricky laughs, pulling the girl into a side hug.  Struggling to escape from his clammy clutches, Ricky finally conceded and let her go, not wanting to collide with the column that was in the middle of the hall.

With one final tug in his direction, Maya was pulled around the column, narrowly missing her own confrontation with the marble. “Mom always said splitting the pole is bad luck.  Don’t want you contacting any of that bad mojo,” he grinned, tossing her a classic Ricky wink. His attention was turned back in the direction he was walking, a casual, happy whistle leaving his lips.

The hall wasn’t too terribly crowded, but as a different person passed the pair by, the grin on Ricky’s face got wider.  He lived for the attention and he aimed to please. Each person that passed by got their own unique greeting and Maya wondered if they would ever make it out of the hall before dark.

“Yo, Rick, how’s that Vice Cap’n thing goin’?” A man with kempt locks calls as they pass one another by. “Find anythin’ good on yer patrols?”

“Nah,” Ricky answers, “If’m honest, most places are...kinda dead.”  There was a brief pause between his joke and the uncontrollable laughter that left the man as he passed them by.  The bodily reaction that left Maya was almost comical, as she rubbed her forehead looked towards the sky as if she was praying to the gods. 

“I wish you’d have learned a better sense of humor. It’s been nearly a decade and a half of you using the same couple of one-liners.” Maya lamented, begging with her eyes for his train of groupies not to encourage his behavior.  “You know you aren’t funny, right? You’ve never been.”

“Aw, Mai-Mai, you’re hurting the feelings of the Great and Powerful Ricky. Wit’ tha God Body, might I add.” Ricky whines, reaching over to pat Maya on the head.  Once again, the girl moved out of his grasp, nose upturned in as she tried to avoid the musty smell that was radiating off of him in waves. 

“And you’re hurting my nose by not taking a shower. They have showers in the locker rooms for a reason, you know.”

“You’re just jealous.” Ricky stops in the middle of the hallway, whipping around to face Maya once again, “The Rickster got the skills to pay many a bill an’ the certificates to prove it.”

Maya raises a hand, a hot retort on her tongue, to which Ricky is already looking smugly at her, waiting to respond when a rush of air stops them both. The two turn their gazes towards the door that had just open and shut tightly, staring at the man who just entered the hallway.

“Lt. Dąbrowski, Lt. Maya, just the pair I was looking to see.” The towering man’s voice is level and deep, but not intimidating despite how he stands over them.

“Branch Commander Fleur.” Both salute him, “You were looking for us?” Ricky continues, a tinge of confusion in his voice, “You know I get Early D, so we came for a little bit. Had to maintain these legs, this body, this--”

“Branch Commander, excuse this one. You know how he gets after a workout, was there a pressing matter?” Maya tilts her head, eyes gleaming. “We’ve turned in the report from our last mission...was there something wrong with it?”

“I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but we do have a pressing matter if you have time to listen.” Commander Fleur stated, his gaze sweeping over the two. “Walk with me a moment, will you?”

Ricky nods, following after the commander who takes the lead in front of the two. He trades confused glances with Maya who keeps her gaze trained on the Commander’s bald head, which glints occasionally in the fluorescent lights. 

“There has been some disturbances recently,” The Commander begins, clearing his throat, “Around Mid-West and this sector as well. Nothing too concrete yet, but it’s been reported more than a few times, so the locals are asking we look into it.”

“With all due respect, Commander,” Ricky looks to Maya, then back to the commander, “We’ve got a higher clearance level, so...shouldn’t this be something for, like, the Junior Agents training exercises? Unless it’s a real threat...” 

“I know it sounds very run-around and small, but it’s good to have some of the senior agents check out things like this for the ease of the locals.” The Commander stops in the middle of the hallway, turning to Ricky and Maya, “While I trust our Junior Agents and their instructors, I still would prefer a senior agent or someone with your particular set of skills to handle this matter.”

“I  _ do _ have a particularly good set of skills,” Ricky agrees, “Alright, I’m your man. I’ll go out an’ catch this disturbance.”

“Excellent! With your covert operating skills, I feel that yourself and Lt. Maya will be able to handle this mission quick and efficiently, which is what we’re looking for.” The Commander continues, nodding his head as he agreed with his own statement.

“Aw, you don’t have to butter me up, Commander. Me ‘n Maya know we the yeah with the yes.” Ricky brushes off his shoulder, sniffing a little bit as he does so. Maya rolls her eyes but nods at Ricky’s statement.

“Though I’ve got a question, Commander.” Maya finally speaks up, “Our Captain...wouldn’t she be a good addition to this mission? In fact, any of our squad members?”

“Unfortunately, your Captain and another agent on your squad are dispatched to investigating another lead. As I said, I believe your skills are much more suited to the reconnaissance and potential takedown mission.”

“Did you hear that, Maya? We’re suited to it. This is our calling. The Hunters. Alright, Commander, you don’t gotta tell me twice, but you can if you want cause I like hearing how good I am.” Ricky pretends to pop his collar, “Do you have any more details?”

“I’ll send them now.” The Commander lifts his wrist, tapping a few things on his watch before a small whoosh is heard. Ricky’s watch pings and he lifts it, quickly reading over the file.

“We’ll head out at once, then.” Ricky and Maya salute once more, turning to walk back the way they had come.

“Thank you. Commit greatness to your heart and excel where the blessed may depart. Be well on your mission.” The Commander turns towards a door, which opens immediately, “Oh and Lt. Dąbrowski?” Ricky turns, a questioning gaze directed at the Commander for a moment, “ _ Please _ take a shower, you smell like garbage.”

Maya’s loud laugh is the last thing the Commander hears as he enters his office.

* * *

 

_ August 20, 2018 _

_ 2:45:12 PM  _

_ Salem, Arkansas _

* * *

 

“So,” Maya trots beside Ricky, “We’re gonna catch that disturbance, huh?”  Eyebrow raised, she peeked up at the teen, attempting to match and keep up with his strides.

“We’re positive vibes only here, okay?” Ricky pulls his jacket a little closer to him, “I didn’t cast that blessing spell on us for nothing.”

“Well, it probably didn’t even work, knowing your track record with spells.” Maya rolls her eyes, looking around the vacant street.  It was almost eerie how quiet the street was, and a shuddering shiver ruffled her fur. “Couldn’t they have named this town something else?”

“Salem is a prominent figure in America. He’s a wonderful cat and you’re just mad there’s no town called Maya.” Ricky chides, his gaze never staying on any one area for too long. “I don’t see anybody. How can a town with such a great name be so dead.”

“I’m getting real sick of your bad puns.” Maya groans, shaking her fur, ears standing alert as she recognized another presence nearby.  “Look, there’s someone, ask them.” She points toward a man on a street corner, staring into the window of a corner shop. 

The two jog over, standing in front of the man who doesn’t seem to see them at first. Ricky stares at the man, waiting for him to say something and when the man doesn’t, he looks him over. Nearly ash gray with ratty clothes, he looks as if he’s been in five bar fights back to back and lost each one.

“Hey, ‘scuse us?” Ricky waves a hand in front of the man, “Y’alright?” The man’s distant eyes seem to refocus and turn to Ricky. He blinks once, then twice.  A startled gasp left his pale lips and he stumbled back into the brick of the shop wall. Ricky raised a keen brow, watching the apparition with interests.

“Y-You can see m-me-e?” The man’s hoarse voice sounds disbelieving.  He looked almost frightened of the two lieutenants as his back hunched and he inched closer to the wall for some sense of comfort.

“Yeah, cause you’re standing there?” Ricky tilts his head as if he had asked the oddest question, “I have some questions for you if you don’t mind.”

“See? Me? But...how? Nobody can see me...” The man’s voice shrinks the more he speaks until he’s quietly mumbling to himself.

“Well, if I’m Nobody…” Ricky mutters to himself, shaking his head and casting a glance at his partner. “I think you picked the wrong person to start with. This guy doesn’t even know he’s dead.”

“Nah, ‘e knows. He been dead bout three months now.” Someone else runs up, slinging an arm around the man, “Maurice jus’ be forgettin’ sometimes. Ya got questions ‘r somethin’?” 

“Yeah, we’re looking for...” Ricky pauses, thinking for a moment. The file barely had any information on what this thing actually looked like, so how would he even describe it? “...something.”

The two men stare at Ricky and he stares back, a wobbly smile sliding onto his face. Maya groans, “Is there, like, a spirit causing trouble around here? Something out of the ordinary?”

“Hm...not that I know of.” The other man says, looking to Maurice, “You heard anything, buddy?”

“...I’m...dead...? How? Andy? How....?”

“Ya got yer ass whupped an’ then dumped. Anyway, you could go see Mama Lou on French Street. She mighta seen somethin’.”

“Thanks for the help,” Ricky saluted, before turning to walk in the direction of French Street.  He paused for a moment, looking back at the deceased man who looked like he was going through an existential crisis.  Or would it be a  _ didxistential _ crisis? Maya nipped at his ankles, hurrying him along before he could say anything else.  However, he did quickly leave himself a mental note to inform their captain about Maurice. Maybe she would be able to help him out, she was good at putting the dead at ease. 

Finding their way to French Street, Mama Lou wasn’t as much help as the other two thought she would be.  There wasn’t much that she could offer that the file sent to his watch didn’t go over. Whatever this thing was, it was really giving them all the runaround.  Not many of the beings around the area seemed particularly worried, but there was something in his gut telling him to run. Ricky Dąbrowski didn’t run; it wasn’t in his character, and just the thought made him uncomfortable.

Maybe it was the stagnant air or the fact that the more they walked around, the number of souls they saw started to lessen.  It was like that moment animals prepare themselves for a great storm and head in the opposite direction of it. As for Ricky and Maya, it almost felt like they were walking headfirst into the storm. Paranoia, was that what he was feeling? Either way, he was pretty tired of the loop-de-loop that he was getting, but the teen couldn’t exactly call it a successful mission if he didn’t come back with  _ something _ .

“The only thing we’ve found is a ghost rat, a rusty penny, and my impatience for our lack of discovery.  Did I miss anything?” Maya yawns, shaking out her tiredness from head to toe.

“No, I don’t think you did.” Ricky sighed, leaning up against the old statue in the park. “Maybe it’s moved on from this town? I mean, there’s not really anything I would want to disturb here. Maurice is already disturbed enough.”

“He need some milk.” Maya gives her own take on the man, walking closer to Ricky and curling her tail around his leg. She looks up at him, her eyes blinking slowly. “The Commander really got you. Checking out this nowhere lead.”  She snickered, coyly tilting her head from side to side.

“He complimented our skills. I couldn’t  _ not _ do it, you know that.” Ricky sighs, pulling out his outdated phone. “I guess we’ll just call for a portal and go home... I don’t want to, bu--”

“Idiot!” Maya flicks her tail at Ricky’s leg. She jumps up onto the ledge surrounding the statue and paws at his wrist, “Your SpiriWatch!”

“Yeah, what abou--oh...! Oh, Maya, you’re smart. Too smart. Of course, you’re smart. You’re my Divine.”

“Don’t flatter me, Ricky wit’ tha God Bod. Just use the damn thing.” Maya rolls her eyes, though her tail swishes back and forth.

Ricky drops his phone into his pocket, devoting his attention towards the watch as he goes through the different applications before landing on a particular one. Maya and Ricky watch the screen for a moment, which is blank aside from the gray areas and small lines detailing a simple map version of the area they are in. Swiping around reveals that as they had already seen, there weren’t many spirits in the area.

“...There’s nothing around. Nothing special anyway.” Ricky pushes off of the ledge, stretching. “I guess it’s really time to go home.” 

Maya hops down from the ledge, following after Ricky who is looking for the park’s exit. The pair takes only a few steps before a loud blaring from Ricky’s watch stops the two in their tracks. Maya’s fur bristles at the sound while Ricky repeatedly taps at his watch, which isn’t responding. “Turn that off!” Maya yelps, pressing her paws against her ears.

“I’m trying, but nothing’s happenin’! D’ya think it’s broken?” Ricky shakes his wrist as if the motion would help shut off the watch, “It’s blinkin’ like crazy... maybe I should’ve updated it.”

“That would’ve been ni--” Maya cuts herself off with a predatory growl, her tails spreading and bristling once more. Ricky stops fidgeting with his watch to look down at Maya, whose eyes are darting around the area. 

The yelp Maya emits is something Ricky can feel in his whole being, more than hear. He feels the way she hits the tree and how it snaps in half from the force more than he can see it. Even more than that, the insanely chilly, blood-curdling scream that permeates the area directly afterward is something he can feel ringing in his ears as he tries to steady himself to run towards Maya.

“Maya!” Ricky calls, skidding across the grass towards the remnants of the tree where Maya lays. “Get up, we gotta move.” Maya weakly groans, when Ricky pushes away part of the tree, grabbing her and running opposite the monster.

He chances a glance backward, eyes widening and his pace picking up upon seeing how close the creature had gotten to the pair. Garbed in black with a broken white mask, the creatures wailing continues.

Ricky trips, rolling and skidding until he’s backed against a tree and the creature is gaining. “Fuck, okay, Maya, can you do this?”

“Doesn’t...matter.” Maya grunts out, “Just call...it.”

Ricky doesn’t waste time with a response, instead, he quickly presses his hand against the air, the palm glowing with a bright green orange-colored energy. An odd seal appears in front of him and within it, Ricky draws a quick symbol.  _ “ _ _ Mark the target, draw the bow, with you as my guide, my target always hits true. Maya, lend me your strength!” _

The creature approaches, screaming once more, but the blinding light now coming from Ricky stops it momentarily. Within seconds, the light has dissipated. Ricky stands where he once was backed up against the tree, with Maya by his side. “Alright, let’s get this done.” Ricky draws his bow, eyes on the creature.

Target locked on, Ricky shoots his arrow, but the creature is quicker than before. Bypassing the arrow altogether, the creature makes its way into Ricky’s personal space, swiping at him with inky claws. Ricky swings his bow around to deflect, though he still takes the brunt of the hit, which sends him careening into the gate. From the force, Ricky and the gate fall over into the street. Maya materializes right next to him, pawing at his face. “This is a nice start, right? We’re having fun, don’t you think?”

“I am a near-immortal being with no definite age in your puny human years on how long I’ve existed and you, somehow, are taking many years off of my lifespan with your bad quips and haphazard, reckless approach.”

“But you’re having fun,  _ right _ ?” Ricky reiterates, sitting up. 

“ _ Ricky _ !” Maya yelps just as the creature once again makes a swipe at Ricky, only deflected by the fact that his back is against the ground and his quickness with the bow. Bringing his legs up under him, Ricky is able to force his legs and the bow upwards into a thrust, which sends the beast hurtling a few yards away.

He quickly jumps up, drawing his bow once again. “Okay, big n’ bad, take two.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to one of the best things that you may have stumbled upon. It is definitely going to be a long journey. This is only the f i r s t installation of this series and we have many things planned. Lots of fun, adventure, action, and romance; all packaged together in a story that you won’t want to miss.


	2. Mission I: This Time On: Damn, Nature! You scary!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -Location: decrepit Cemetery - Split trees, worn gate, busted brick
> 
> -Monday afternoon, after a long day of school. Not like either of us really want to be doing this on a Monday, let alone the first day back after summer break. 
> 
> -Number one ghost hotspot; although, every cemetery must be the number one ghost hotspot.
> 
> -Crazy things happen in New Orleans, but even crazier things happen in a New Orleans Cemetery.
> 
> -Did I mention a cemetery?
> 
> -98 Degrees, no clouds, no wind; humid, hot, and absolute discomfort.
> 
> -Locals complaining about oddities and things going missing. What kind of things do ghosts have anyway?

* * *

_August 20, 2018_

_2:15:45 PM_

_Saint Paul Cemetery_

_New Orleans, Louisiana_

* * *

Cemeteries were strange places full of many different odd emotions.  There was something just as magical about a cemetery as it was forlorn.  An area full of such wealth and history of the individuals that rest there were often eventually forgotten and unkempt. The Saint Paul cemetery was no different with it’s peeling tombstones and cracked brick. The cemetery was not new, but it was not old **.**  A zone coddled by an abundance of trees, grass, and flowers; the cemetery was well-hidden, and to most, it was forgotten. Moss grew on aging trees and leaves crunched beneath their feet. The gate depicting what name the cemetery used to have was broken, barely hanging onto the wrought iron fence.  It was clear that time was surely a factor as the weathered down, eroded iron was broken towards the bottom, allowing anyone a grand entrance. It was the type of place that could be seen in movies where teens dared one another to enter and prove of its haunting.

This cemetery had seen a lot of history, and the two now entering it knew they were not the first.  The taller of the two almost felt bad for interrupting the peace, but as one part of the rusted iron pole went down, so did her guilt. The sticky humidity had them standing slightly apart as if that would cool them down. As they walked through the sorry excuse for a gate, sunlight streaming through the thick canopies of leaves blinded them minutely, their gazes scanning left and right. No movement was spotted, though they continued to scrutinize the area. Cracked, moss-covered tombstones with hardly discernible inscriptions were laid in straight rows. Old vases of rotted flowers sat beneath a random few, reminiscent of an Edgar Allan Poe poem. While the newer tombstones sat out like a sore thumb, showing off their readable inscriptions, but still weather-worm from the passing seasons and years.

Different from the fresh air right outside the cemetery gates, walking in has the two newcomers reeling from the smell, a hacking cough coming from both as they continued. The shorter one coughs once again, trying to wave away the smell. “First, it's _so_ hot and humid, then we walk right into someone’s cloud of ass,” She pushes her hair back once again, a gruff groan flinging itself out of her mouth. “First week of school and we’re already at the cemetery. _Fun_.”

“I know you hate these types of things,” Her taller companion speaks up, a slight strain in her voice, “But this is just how things have to be sometimes. I mean, I could do without the smell, but your hair always frizzes in anything higher than 60 degrees and we don’t do low temps in New Orleans, or did you forget that?”

“I didn’t, but it was nice to be somewhere where I didn’t have to put an assload of product in my hair to keep it nice and wavy. I just don’t understand why we’re here again.”

“We’re here to check out...” She paused, leaning down for dramatic effect, “ _a disturbance_.” The taller drops her gaze to her partner in a conspiratory way. “Things have been going missing from this cemetery— I don’t know how they noticed, because this cemetery toe up [𝟣] and it don’t look like anyone comes here.”

“ _Doesn’t_ , but...This place is actually really big. How do they expect us to cover all of it when there’s only two of us?”

“It’d be nice if Ricky dawg-ass [𝟤] was here. But since he’s not,” She clears her throat, “It’s up to the Dream Team: Aneri Magnolia and Briar Rose to deal with this.”

“ _Maggie,_ but, I’m _so_ excited.” Maggie twirls her finger in the air. “Where are the _ghulgh [𝟥]_ —!” Maggie jumps, a snarled scream leaving her mouth as she turns.  A shudder rang through her body as cool fingers nipped against the nape of her neck. Briar Rose whips around, hands thrown up defensively. The two calm down as they see who is behind them.

“ _Johnson_!” Maggie yelps, “What are you doin’ all the way out here?” Johnson laughs curling himself up into a ball to float just out of Briar Rose’s reach. “Touchin’ on people like dat!”

“Aw, luv, don’t be like dat,” Johnson laughs once more. “Y’all here in one of m’ li’l territories, so I hadda come an-and say hello t’ my fav li’l agents, now huh?”

“Aneri Magnolia, I think you mean: _What are you doing in this area?_ and _Touching people in a most unwanted manner_ , but don’t be touchin’ on people, Johnson. You done heard her.” Briar Rose sticks her tongue out at Maggie, before quickly switching roles and pointing a finger at him, her gaze hardening.

“What’re y’all doin’ so far from Quarter, eh?” Johnson ignores Briar Rose’s warning as he stands on his feet, walking towards them. “Ol’ ‘mander let y’all out? Ain’t seen ya lah girls [𝟦] in weeks.”

“We were busy hunting things worth our time in another state, Johnson.” Maggie fluffs her bun, pushing stray strands of hair behind her ear in a huff, “It was a great way to recover from your bullshit.”

“Alright, now. Y’know I apologized fer that whole weredog incident, yanno. He turnt back to a real dog again, or did ya forget I did that?” Johnson wags his finger, clearly offended by Maggie’s foul choice of words.

“That’s not the point and you know it! Mowgli hasn’t been the same since then and— you know what, I’m not talking about this.” Maggie frowned up at him, pointing at the man petulantly. Briar Rose throws a hand in front of her sister, stepping forward a bit.

“Okay, okay. Y’all gettin’ bucked up [𝟧] n’ all dat. Let’s all just calm down a li’l bit. Maggie, we got things to do. Johnson, don’t you got things to do somewhere else?”

“Not particularly, no. What’re y’all doin’? Maybe I could help?” Johnson wags his eyebrows, nudging the air in front of Briar Rose, not daring to actually touch her.

“We don’t need any of your _kind_ help, thank you. Come on, Briar Rose.” Maggie turns on her heel, taking two steps before she trips over a tree root, stumbling through three more ghosts idly standing in her path. Maggie coughs, dusting herself off, continuing on as if she hadn’t fallen.

“You heard her, c’mon Briar Rose.” Johnson floats after Maggie while Briar Rose brings up the rear. “So y’ain’t answer my question.”

“There have been reports of a disturbance around here by the locals—i.e. someone’s been grave robbing this area.” Maggie informs Johnson, a slight distasteful mumble under her breath.  She could have sworn the goal was to leave the nuisance behind, yet, he still somehow found a way to stick with the duo.

“Dunno how they can tell, but alright.” Briar Rose shrugs, “So we’ve been sent to check up on it.”

“Maybe try talkin’ to these ‘ere people.” Johnson gestures to the ghosts now milling about the area, curious as to what the commotion as about. “We c’n split up n’ whateva like dat.”

“We don’t need your help, as I kindly stated earlier.” Maggie huffs, crossing her arms, “Briar, tell him.”

“Well...” Briar Rose looks from Maggie to Johnson, who eagerly nods at her. “We need someone to replace Ricky...”

“Fine! But I’m going this way and you better not follow me!” Maggie tosses her hands up, taking a few steps and slamming her foot into a tombstone. The tombstone hardly budges, though the same can’t be said for Maggie, who immediately freezes up. Then, in a quick motion, grabs her foot. “ _Fuckin’_ A!”

“Aneri _Magnolia_! Language, we are amongst the dead!” Briar Rose snaps at the smaller girl, who scrunches up her nose in pain as she attempts to walk it off.

“Heckin’ A!” Maggie corrects herself, “Is that better? Is that better for you, now that I am in pain and wanted to put words to what I felt? Now that I’m hurting, is my cursing the only thing that bothers you? Not my pain?”

“You get hurt a lot, so...” Briar Rose looks away, “Have fun going that way. Johnson, you go the other way.”

“No!” Maggie yelps, a pout finding its way to her lips, “I changed my mind. _I’m_ going that way. Johnson, take my old path.”

“How much is th’ pay fer th’ day’s work?” Johnson asks, “I got mouths to feed n’ all that.”

Briar Rose and Maggie don’t bother responding, instead, the two have already started talking to other ghosts, trying to find information. Johnson sighs, shaking his head. The things he did for these girls. _  
_

* * *

After wandering around the cemetery for the better part of an hour, Briar Rose, Maggie, and Johnson regroup in front of the old, weathered chapel. Maggie sits down on the steps, careful not to sit near one of the tombs, while Briar Rose leans against the stone railing and Johnson floats above them.

“Well, that was a bust.” Maggie sighs, looking down at the dirty steps. “They had nothing to say other than to argue about who would be coming to visit them.”

“All the ghosts I talked to had complaints.” Briar Rose waves the list in front of her, “The Commander’s gonna have to come talk to them because I ain’t dealing with this shit.”  Who knew that in the afterlife there would be so much to complain about. The flowers weren’t pretty enough, animals made homes on their tombs, no one came to visit them; the list sounded completely petty, but the two could empathize with how it felt to be left alone with no one to care for them anymore.  If anything, the Commander would have to assign more agents to this area to perform monthly maintenance on the tombs just to keep the ghosts in the area satisfied.

“Aw, cheer up now.” Johnson spins around, landing on his feet, “They say the dead can’t tell stories, but they never said the dead couldn’t complain. An’ y’all signed up fer this ‘nyway.”

“Personally, I signed up for bangin’ ass battles and trade [𝟨]ass boys, but as they say ‘go off, I guess’.” Briar Rose sighs, “Alright, let’s take one more loop around and if we don’t find anything, then we’ll leave.”

Maggie murmurs her agreement, moving to stand, though something out of her peripheral has her staying put. Her head snaps quickly to the left, almost enough to give her whiplash, though nothing is there. She stands, dusting off her pants as Briar Rose walks past her.

The two continue walking, with Johnson slowly floating behind both of them. Maggie shudders, stopping herself mid-stride and looking to her left once again. A shadowy figure darts by and the girl feels cold as she reaches for Briar Rose. Just out of her reach, Maggie pulls her hand back close to her. Surely it was just another ghost playing tricks on her.  They enjoyed doing that since she was the one that got the most spooked out of the two.

Maggie’s eyes dart around, never staying on one thing for more than a second or two. She wasn’t being paranoid, just... cautious. What if it wasn’t a regular ghost? What if it was something more? Maggie picked up her pace, not exactly matching Briar Rose’s long strides, but tailing her closely.

Maggie slams into the back of Briar Rose, who doesn’t even budge, but instead turns, grabbing Maggie’s hand so she doesn’t fall over again. “I never thought I’d have to tell you to watch where you’re goin’.” Briar Rose snickers, helping Maggie stand completely upright.

“Yeah, haha... sorry.” Maggie stutters, breathing out. “Got... um, d-distracted.”

“By what?” Briar Rose questions, “Did you see something?” Briar Rose scans the immediate area, “Huh, did ya notice all the ghosts were gone? Even Johnson ain’t here no more.”  There was a pause as the girls looked around the immediate area, noticing that the cemetery had gone eerily quiet. A chill wracked its way up Maggie’s spine, and she drew closer to her companion, holding onto her hand.  Briar Rose gave the girl a soft, reassuring squeeze, senses on alert, eyes scanning thoroughly and slowly like the arms of a ticking clock.

“ _Isn’t here anymore_ , but no... I was looking at something else. And that’s just typical of Johnson. As soon as he found out he wasn’t getting paid, you know he only stuck around because he owed a favor to us.” Maggie clears her throat and taking a deep breath in to rid of the tightness that was left in her chest. “Where did they all go?”

“Maybe they’re gearing up for a surprise _Magic Maggis_ trick. _Ooooooh_...” Briar Rose’s tone drops eerily, her fingers dancing across Maggie’s shoulder and down her arm. Despite herself, Maggie shudders unconsciously, then catches herself. She then scoffs, pulling away from Briar Rose, feeling her heart hammering in her chest. “Aw, c’mon, don’t get upset, Maggis. I found something. It’s why I stopped walkin’.”

Briar Rose steps slightly off to the side so that Maggie can see. Directly in front of them is a ring of equidistance mushrooms, most with brown tops and a slight twinkle to their tops. “A fairy ring...it’s what scientists consider to be a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms.  As the fungus grows and seeks food underground, it becomes more stable. They are usually found in forests or grasslands...not cemeteries. Which is weird because—”

“Yeah, I read the book too, Database. This isn’t Supernatural 101, you can save the lecture.” Briar Rose rolls her eyes, cutting the girl off from her educational ramble. “I’m assuming this the cause of the disappearances. So... how do we get the fae to come out? Break the circle? I’m down for some mushroom kickin’.”

“No! That’s the first thing you _don’t_ do when encountering a fae.” Maggie waves her hands wildly, making a wall between the taller girl and the ring of fungus. “Science says there’s no problem entering it, but folklore says we will die young. And with my luck, I’ll probably die right now.”

“You’re so negative sometimes. Is it because you’re so short? It’s a wonder I have Ana and you don’t. You’re both the same. So... what does Database herself say?” Briar Rose asks after a slight pause, checking her watch momentarily. “C’mon, we don’t got all day, it’s like 4:30 and Mom is makin’ first week back Fritay.”

 _“Don’t have all day_ , but fine,” Maggie puffs out a large breath, “I’ll ignore the short quip in favor of us needing to figure this out to leave—it’s too creepy without the spirits here. Okay, um...nine times to the sun.” Briar Rose stares at her, waiting for Maggie to clarify. “You can only enter a fairy ring during a full moon, by running around the ring nine times in the direction of how the sun travels during the day... or you can just run around the ring nine times, still in the sun’s direction—ten is too many and you’ll have to start over. There’s also the interesting method of wearing your hat backward because it can apparently _confuse_ the fae, which, personally, I don’t understand because—”

“Alright, we don’t have hats, so we’re running.” Briar Rose claps her hands, effectively cutting Maggie off. Despite Maggie’s protests, the two girls line up to run around the circle. On Briar Rose’s count, the two girls begin running. Three laps in and only slightly winded, Maggie stops short, feeling like a meercat as her back straightens and she looks off into the clear distance. A feeling of coldness washes over her, and a suffocating pressure flattens into her chest. Briar Rose laps around her, nudging the girl as she goes by.

“Why’d you stop running?” Briar Rose asks, passing Maggie on her fifth lap. Somewhere in her mind, Maggie could feel envy rising at Briar Rose’s athleticism and stamina. Maggie holds her arm out to stop Briar Rose as she tries to lap her for the sixth time. “Aw, now we have to start over—,” Briar tilts her head, curiosity touching her tone. “What’s with this hot ass wind?  You feelin’ that?” Hot winds weren’t uncommon, but when the trees around them weren’t even moving an inch, and there were no signs of wind coming from any other direction, it was rather strange. Ghost related, if you asked either of them.

Maggie doesn’t respond, only shaking her head as she looks around. Briar Rose follows suit, though neither sees anything immediately.

The apprehension rises in them both, reaching higher and higher with every passing second. Maggie draws closer to Briar Rose, her breathing getting shorter with each breath while Briar Rose tries to situate Maggie safely behind her, though neither can tell where their supposed enemy will be striking from.

Maggie gasps loudly at the crunching and crumbling sound from behind them. The two whip around, just in time to catch the spreading of dark brown grass and crumbling mushrooms. In the middle of the decrepit circle lies a small creature, battered and bruised with traces of a translucent liquid on its body. “Is it safe to go in there?” Briar Rose asks quietly, her grip on Maggie’s arm getting tighter.

“Th-Th-The, uh, the circle’s gone...So, yeah...I think so... _yeah._ ” Maggie whispers back as if she didn’t want anything overhearing them. The two slowly tread into the former circle, catching glimpses of what was formerly an entrance to the fae’s realm. As they reach the fairy in the middle, all traces of the circle’s connection to the fae realm are gone.

Briar Rose momentarily lets go of Maggie to kneel down, picking up the fairy in her hands. She stands, allowing Maggie to look over the fairy as well. It groans in Briar Rose’s hand, moving slightly, eyes fluttering open and closed until they settle, half-lidded.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Briar Rose asks quietly, skipping the formalities. The fairy groans once more, a weak twinkle of its wings showing the distrust it has for them. “We won’t hurt you...Uh, g-gimme a minute.”

With her free hand, Briar Rose raises her hand, a sparkling yellow light emanating from it. In the air, a seal appears in front of her. In the middle of it, she draws a quick symbol. _“Healing more, Healing--_ Move!” Briar Rose shoves the fae towards Maggie, who falls backward, and onto the dead grass while Briar Rose jumps up. Kicking off of the creature, Briar Rose vaults into a flip, landing just a few feet away from the creature.

Maggie plops down behind Briar Rose, looking up at the portal she just fell out of, sighing in relief. For once, she actually landed where she needed to, but she couldn’t relax too much as she turned her attention back to the grotesque creature in front of them. Maggie cradled the injured fae against her, her heart stuttering as she heard the being whimpering in pain. She brushed a gentle fingertip against its head, trying her best not to jostle it too much.

The monster above them was ginormous, towering above with a long, willowy body. It moved in a manner of an ungraceful waltz, a guttural wail leaving its center like a banshee crying.  The long gangly limbs reminded the girl of a person dressed in cult attire. Hooded head, white-boned face, with a chattering grimace. It was a true nightmare, something she was sure would haunt her in her sleep for many nights to come.  What put the girl off the most was not the pointed thorn of a nose or spikes that ringed its shoulders like a necklace, but instead was the hole that was carved neatly where she assumed the stomach should be.

“What the _fuck_ is this?” Briar Rose’s voice rises an octave in a strange twist of panic and urgency. Her face twists up in disgust at the creature snarling at them. “Maggie, get back a couple more feet!”

“You don’t have to tell me twice, but mind your language!” Maggie and the fae fall through another portal, ending up a little bit further away from Briar Rose and the creature. The creature wastes no time in running towards Briar Rose, but veers off, headed for Maggie. She wanted to commit the creature to memory, but it was making it a little hard with the _special_ attention that it thought the girl needed.

Briar Rose runs, slipping on the grass, but manages to make it in time to take the brunt of the hit. Arms up to block, Briar Rose skids, until the creature gives one final push back, knocking her far away and into a tree. The old tree cracks and snaps, but Briar Rose is already standing and running once more by the time the trunk and branches hit the ground. “Maggie! What kind of _heckin’_  animal is this?”

“Are you _sure_ this is some kind of damn animal?” Maggie yelps back, “Cause it don’t look like one I’ve ever seen! Show me the Animal Planet you’ve been watching!”

“I’m making some assumptions and I assume you need to answer my questions! Will you check the damn database?” Briar Rose screams, running from the monster. “I’m trying not to die here!” Briar Rose is barely heard over the guttural screeching of the monster as it chases after her, gaining on her in leaps and bounds.

“I will if you’d give me a minute and stop calling my mind a database!” Maggie clutches the fae close to her chest as she looks down at the grass, trying to think of anything she’d seen that looked even remotely like this Eldritch Horror incarnate in front of them. “Mask... white... mask... bl-black.. Black cloak... Middle Eastern? No... it’s definitely not American... Maybe a hybrid? A hybrid but... of _what_?”

Briar Rose turns, jumping at the creature, who only swipes at her, knocking her up and away from it. “Fuck!” Briar Rose yelps as she hits a tombstone and rolls over. “Shit...this is so fucking poo.” She couldn’t even land a hit on the creature like this, and she could barely outrun it if she and Maggie were to make an escape. “Think, Briar Rose...you’re not a captain for nothing...”

The glint of her bracelet catches Briar Rose’s eye and she sits up. “Ah, right... how could I forget.” Briar Rose quickly sits up, looking around the area. The creature hadn’t caught sight of Maggie yet and instead seemed to be anticipating for Briar Rose’s next move.

Briar Rose stands up, clearing her throat, “Ana, c’mon out, it’s time to play!” Briar Rose raises her arm up. The gold bracelet glints once more, and in a swirl of leaves, a man appears next to Briar Rose. He yawns, taking a look around before looking to Briar Rose.

“Will you _ever_ call me officially?” He asks, his tone flat. Briar Rose doesn’t bother with a response, she instead waves her hand at him, her eyes never leaving the creature out of fear it may try to attack Maggie once more.

“No time for any of that, we got things to do.” Briar Rose throws up a hand, “Gimme a weapon.”

“...” Ana opens his mouth a few times before he sighs, waving his hand, a small leaf appearing out of his palm. Briar Rose snatches the leaf out of the air and pours spiritual energy into it. Vines shoot out of her enclosed fist, wrapping and warping until they form a long pole with a pointed blade. “You could say please. So entitled.”

“Please and Thank You, O Wondrous One. Alright, let’s see if this will work.” Briar Rose twirls the Naginata in her hand, pointing it at the creature. The creature, sensing something different about Briar Rose, narrows it’s attention only to her as she charges at the creature.

In a quick movement, Briar Rose spins around the creature, using her Naginata for movement and slices it on the back, whirling around to face the creature once more. A deafening wail leaves it’s throat at the inflicted wound, though if anything, the creature only seems more enraged.

Charging at the creature again, Briar Rose becomes locked in a battle of strikes between herself and the being, with neither landing a good clean hit. Shallow cuts appear on Briar Rose as she jumps back, Naginata clutched tightly in her hands.

She pants heavily, staring the creature down, though it looks to have taken hardly any damage. “Maggie... d-id you find anything?” Briar Rose weakly raises her voice.

“I’m not sure what this thing is!” Maggie calls back, “It’s strong, though.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Briar Rose rolls her eyes, “God, I can’t believe I’m getting beat by some unknown white mask joker-lookin’ motherfucker. You better not tell Ricky ‘bout this.”

“Well, if you don’t beat this thing, ain’t nobody telling anybody anythin’.” Maggie replies, “Just a suggestion: you could try fighting better.” Not being much of a fighter, Maggie stood out on the side, throwing in her passenger seat driver suggestions.

“I’m doing my--Fuck!” Briar Rose reacts quickly putting her Naginata up to take the attack. The weapon snaps in half under the weight of the monster’s strength almost crashing down on Briar Rose if it wasn’t for Maggie creating a portal beneath her.

Briar Rose falls out of the portal just a few feet away from Maggie, where Ana appears next to her. “Oh, are we having a reunion without me? That’s not fair. My dear Magnolia, why didn’t you call me out? I’m hurt.” Another male pats Maggie on the head, his lips pulled into a pout.

“Aconite!” Maggie yelps, “I didn’t think it was that serious...” She clears her throat, “Anyway, Briar Rose, I only have about four more of my portal pellets left. Make them count, cause it’s starting to look like I’m gonna be an only child.”

“How about we just pray and die then?” Briar Rose deadpans, standing up. “Ana, another weapon, if you please?”

”As we know, I’ll be doing just the dy— _Bree_! I’m telling!” Maggie helps, clutching the back of her head while Briar Rose stands as if she hadn’t just smacked Maggie.

With a spear in hand— "You’re really digging long, pointed weapons today, aren’t you, Ana?”—Briar Rose takes another charge at the monster, once again getting flung away from it and hitting another tombstone.

“Looks like this has been going on for a bit.” Aconite comments, looking from Briar Rose’s losing battle to Maggie, then to Ana.

“Maybe fifteen or so minutes.” Maggie breathes out, a little bit calmer now that Aconite was near.

“How about...” Briar Rose yells, “Instead of talking,” She ducks, jabbing her spear into the beast, “You get _up_ and help me!”

“Fighting isn’t really my thing, though...” Maggie reminds her, “So I think it’s best I’m over here.”

“Aneri Magnolia!” Briar Rose snaps, getting thrown back near the group. The usage of her full first name has Maggie sighing and standing. She hands off the fae to Aconite, who pats Maggie on the head, flicking his fingers over her bun. Maggie then pulls a small, purple colored tablet from a candy box in her pocket.

A small light sparks above her hair, and upon eating the small tablet, the flame ignites brightly before dulling down into a purple colored flame above her head. “I don’t know what you’re expecting me to do...”

“I need you to be the distraction while I do my incantation.” Briar Rose explains, “Clearly a heightened human isn’t going to do anything against this, so I have to get higher.”

“Is that your catchphrase or something? Because it seems like you say that a lot... and usually only to me.” Maggie looks at the creature. They hadn’t been talking for more than thirty seconds to a minute, but the creature seems frozen as it watched them, waiting for their next move. This was probably the slowest paced, yet most fearful fight Maggie had ever witnessed. The unknown was scary. She gulped, reminding herself of who she was with, and what they were here to do. “Remember, I’ve only got—”

“Four Magic Maggis pellets and one successful way of getting on my damn nerves. I remember.” Briar Rose finishes, “Don’t worry, I won’t take that long.”

With barely any reassurance from Briar Rose’s words, Maggie takes off running towards the creature, who seems to have snapped out of its trance. It swipes just above Maggie, who screams, ducking and running around the creature. It swipes again, this time Maggie uses her portal to slip out of its grasp. She lands on top of it, smacking her body against it’s slimy back and flopping to the ground with a groan. “What the shit!”

“Maggie, how about you throw a punch?” Aconite calls out, “She should really try punching, don’t you agree?”

“You sound like Briar Rose.” Ana comments, “Maggie can’t punch because she’ll do more damage to herself than to the creature, or have you forgotten that?”

“Just a little bit.” Aconite chuckles. “You can do it, my dear! We’re rooting for you!” Maggie screeches back at him wordlessly while Aconite waves his hand.

“Alright, I’m ready.” Briar Rose breathes out, calming herself. She puts a hand out in front of her, the seal appearing once more, however, this time, Ana stands on the other side, his palm also out.

“ _I call upon thee, Earth God, here my call, lend to me your tremendous power!”_ Briar Rose draws a symbol within the seal, as Anastasius does the same. Roses bloom across Briar Rose’s head, connected by gold hanging chains and vines in a circular crown. “ _Deus Hoc Vult_ [𝟩]!!”

“The half incantation? Are you practicing control?” Ana asks, almost impressed by Briar Rose. “This is a first.”

“I’d love to go full on, but we both know I can’t afford to pay for another cleanup.” Briar Rose admits.

Maggie’s screaming returns Briar Rose’s attention back to the problem at hand. Briar Rose runs, darting with a heightened speed towards her sister and the creature, managing to snag Maggie out of the air before she could get hit once more.

“Took you long enough! And you didn’t even do the whole incantation!” Maggie complained as they landed on the ground.

“It’s been a while since I’ve done any incantation, okay?” Briar Rose flicks her, putting Maggie down on her feet. “ _Thanks Briar Rose, you’re the best. Thank you for making sure I didn’t die, Briar Rose. Who could ask for a more thoughtful older sister than you?_ is what you should be saying right about now."

“I’ll say that... at your funeral!” Maggie pulls Briar Rose out of the way of the creature’s attack. “It doesn’t look like we’re gonna be able to defeat this thing, so just try to capture it.”

“You’re gonna have to run distractions while I set up the perimeter, then.” Briar Rose informs her, “You and Aconite can help too, you know!” She gives the two a look, “You’re Gods, you can definitely still do the muscle hustle over here!”

“Aw, I would, but I’m holding this fairy a-an— _Ana_!” Aconite’s whine turns into a mangled scream as he was forcibly thrown at a high speed towards the creature. While the creature roars and counters Aconite, who is able to turn himself around mid-air to throw a well-timed punch at the creature, Maggie sighs once more and runs back towards it, muttering profanities under her breath.

Briar Rose plucks a flower petal from her crown, placing it on the ground. It glows briefly before it disappears into the grass. As Maggie and Aconite continue to be tossed around by the creature, Briar Rose, now joined by Ana, begin laying petals around the area surrounding the creature.

“Do you think we have enough?” Briar Rose asks Ana, who looks around the area, noting the glinting flower petals dissolving into the ground.

“You better have enough!” Maggie pants from beside them while Aconite gets tossed into another tree. “I-I’m coming... d-down...” Maggie pants, sighing one last time as the flame flickers above her head then goes out completely, only a trace of smoke indicating the flame was left. “Yup, and I’m out for the count.”

“I think we’ll be good. Briar Rose, speak the incantation.” Ana urges the girl. Briar Rose nods, steeling herself with a heady breath. Holding her palm out, Briar Rose once again summons spiritual energy into the appendage. With her quick speed, Briar Rose zig-zags her way to the creature, landing a solid hit on it’s turned back.

“ _Stupefaciunt [𝟪]!”_ Briar Rose yelps when her hand makes contact. She flips one-handed over the creature, landing right in front of it. The creature wails, moving to swipe at Briar Rose, but the paralyzing effect quickly spreads, stopping the creature in its movement. “Alright, Rosa Est [𝟫]!” Briar Rose’s eyes glow a sparkling gold color, streaks of energy trailing off. “ _Vitem tenuit_ [10]!”

Starting from the petal nearest Ana and Maggie, a large, thick vine shoots out of the ground slamming down over the creature and connecting to the ground opposite. In quick succession, all of the vines slam down over the creature, pinning it to the ground before it can move.

The creature struggles, but ultimately cannot remove itself from Briar Rose’s vine trap. The group of four approaches the creature, with Aconite slowly limping over. Briar Rose looks down at the creature, concentration on keeping the vines tightly pulled over the creature. “All in a day’s work.” Briar Rose manages to strain out.

“That was more like a week’s worth.” Maggie comments, “What the hell is this thing, do either of you know?”

Aconite and Ana look over the creature, then turn to each other. Aconite shrugs, “I’ve never seen anything like this in all my years.”

“I haven’t either. Maybe it’s some new form of hybrid? Or a created creature.” Ana suggests, listing on his fingers. “We should probably take it back to the headquarters, maybe someone there has seen it before.”

“That’s our next course of action. Ana, help me figure out how to transport this thing.” Briar Rose smacks her hand against the vines, causing the creature to wail once more. She slaps it again, to which it wails once more. About to go in for a third time, Ana grabs her hand.

“That’s enough. Or did you forget the part of your pact about living creatures?” Ana scolds her. Briar Rose scoffs, rolling her eyes.

While Ana and Briar Rose set about making the vine hold portable, Maggie takes to walking around the creature, taking in details, though this is much harder now, with all of the vines wrapped around its body. The creature wails almost pitifully, though Maggie feels little to no pity for the creature. “You almost killed me, many times. And now you wanna whine like a dog.”

Annoyed, Maggie slaps her hand against the vines, forgetting that her thumb wasn’t as green as her sisters, and like a curse, her inability to maintain any kind of greenery reared its head. Two of the vines shrivel into brown, dried material, snapping off and freeing a part of the creature. Briar Rose whips around, hearing the screeching sound get louder as the creature once again begins to struggle against its confines.

Just as she approaches to try reapplying the vines, the creature manages to free itself, knocking both Maggie and Briar Rose into opposite directions. With one final wail, the creature runs off. Ana helps Briar Rose stands as Aconite does the same for Maggie.

“What happened?” Briar Rose asked. Maggie clears her throat, “Did you touch the vines, Maggie?”

“I forgot,” Maggie admits, looking down.  Usually, the girl was extremely careful around her sister's plants and the fact that she let the thing loose again made her feel a little ashamed.  Especially after Briar Rose and Ana finally confined the creature. If it were Aconite the vines wouldn’t have frayed so easily, however, control was something he had and surprisingly something Maggie lacked.  “Should we go after it?”

“Yes!” Briar Rose answers, placing a hand on Maggie’s shoulder, squeezing lightly. Maggie frowned, though she patted Briar Rose’s hand. “It gave us a hard time— attacked us and the fae unprovoked and it’s a danger to the spirits around here. Maggie, can you catch the trail? We’ll have to call for backup since you’re out of Magic Mana...I might have to go full in order to catch up...”

Maggie blinks a few times, her vision clearing as she and Aconite stand side by side. Putting a hand on Maggie’s shoulder, Aconite nods. Maggie puts her hand out, waving it over the grass, just a few paces in front of them, a path of sickly black spiritual energy appears. “It shouldn’t be far from here, let’s get going.”

Briar Rose nods, raising her wrist to use her SpiriWatch when it rings. Briar Rose answers the call, only to see a lone man standing there. “Commander Fleur, peace be with you.” Briar Rose greets, saluting him.

“Captain.” Commander Fleur nods, “Have you finished your assignment?”

“Almost, Commander.” Briar Rose admits, looking over to her companions, “Is this urgent?”

“Yes, suspend your activities and return to base immediately.” The Commander demands, leaving no room for argument, however, Briar Rose speaks up.

“If I can be frank, I don’t believe this activity should be suspended until a later time, Commander. You see--”

“Return to base immediately, Captain Briar Rose.” Commander Fleur cuts her off. “I expect you back by 1830.” The call cuts out almost immediately afterward and Briar Rose sighs.  Leave it to the Commander to leave no room for one final comeback in the most crucial moments.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Aconite comments, “He always says ‘bye’.”

“During a courtesy call, yes. This seemed to be more than that, unfortunately,” Maggie sighs, glancing around at the damage that their little assignment caused.

“Well, all we can do at the moment is return to base as he said. Let’s move out, team. And bring the fairy.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terms to Know
> 
> [1] - "toe up" - that's messed up  
> [2] - "dawg ass" - he sucks/he's trash  
> [3] - "ghulgh" - maggie wasn't having it, makes this noise a lot  
> [4] - "lah girls" - little girls  
> [5] - "bucked up" - excited  
> [6] - "trade" - a very fine boy  
> [7] - "Deus Hoc Vult" - God Wills It  
> [8] - "Stupefaciunt" - stun  
> [9] - "Rose Est" - rose vines  
> [10] - "Vitem tenuit" - hold of vines


	3. Mission II: Between a Rock & a Hard Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interlude Notes
> 
> -Scrappy gets snappy and Maggie loves smacking things.
> 
> -Wheel of fortune: in which the girls are given strange, extremely vague fortunes.
> 
> -Love is in the air? More like injuries and stupidity.
> 
> -I love rock n’ roll: and apparently, Ricky and Briar Rose do, too.
> 
> -You can’t be a cult without a black cloak.
> 
> -Mutated Dogs? What’s in the water supply?

* * *

  _August 20, 2018_

_7:45:25  PM_

**_Southern Sector_ **

_New Orleans, Louisiana_

* * *

“You’re looking really banged up.” Maggie keeps her stride with Briar Rose, whose natural pace has slowed due to her injuries. Brushing the stray hairs away from her forehead, Maggie cut her eyes at her sister, looking the girl up and down.  Saying she was a little worse for wear was a complete understatement; torn fabric, bruises marring her skin, and a limp rather fierce. It was going to be rather amusing seeing what kind of excuse she came up with tomorrow about some of the more superficial injuries that could be seen.

Maggie combed her loose hairs back into her bun, having an easier time walking down the long hall.  She was a little dirty but compared to her sister, who had the middle name _Scrappy Doo_ , she was left with no marks from the battle.  Since, she _of course_ , wasn’t the one that was fighting the insane creature that gave Briar Rose a run for her money.  Although she was a little dirty and a bit tired from her exhausted spiritual energy, Maggie fortunately still had enough pep in her step to rub it in Briar Rose’s face.

Briar Rose scoffs, giving Maggie a look, “Well _duh_. I was thrown around by fuckin’ Slender Man Skeletor. You were there, or was my pain not important enough to you?” Briar Rose raises her hand, jerking it as if she were going to hit Maggie.

“Okay now, you hit me again and you might mess up the only good hand you have left.” Maggie teases, running just out of Briar Rose’s reach and smacking her head against one of the ill-placed columns in the hallway. She reels back, then drops into a squat, groaning from the pain exploding across her forehead.  The girl wished that she could say just her luck, but it was obvious she didn’t have any.

Briar Rose laughs, patting Maggie on the back and running past her, “Don’t mess up your only good _face_ , Aneri!” Just as Briar Rose was about to round the corner, she skids to an abrupt halt and arched so that she wouldn’t collide with the person who walked out in front of her.  The woman herself didn’t seem too bothered by Briar Rose’s quick appearance as if she expected her to be there. “Oh! Researcher Dąbrowski, a surprise to see you here in the base and not out in the field.”

Researcher Dąbrowski smiles at Briar Rose, then looks past her to Maggie who is staggering slowly towards them, a hand on her head to alleviate some of her pain. “Yes, while I wish it would have been under better circumstances...it’s still very good to see you girls. I came all the way from Texas for this.”

“Is it related to why the Commander called us back?” Maggie asks, “And what’s in Texas?”

“Sightings of a pack of Ozark Howlers [1].” Researcher Dąbrowski’s eyes gleam, “We’ve been following their migration patterns for the better part of the year, and somehow, we found a pack of them in Texas.”

“Ozark Howlers? Did you get photos? They’re supposed to be death omens.” Maggie asks, eyes sparkling in a similar manner to the woman in front of her. Researcher Dąbrowski only nods, tapping her watch to look for pictures to show off, “Do the Ozark Howlers have to do with why we were called?”

Researcher Dąbrowski stops mid tap, then looks at the girls, “Oh, Commander Fleur didn’t tell you?” The girls shake their heads, giving the older woman an odd stare, “It’s about Ricky.”

“Ricky? What happened to him? Is he in trouble for not showing up for our investigation?” Briar Rose carefully crosses her arms, wincing only slightly as she does so.

“No, unfortunately, Ricky’s been injured after taking on an investigation of his own.” Researcher Dąbrowski scoffs, shaking her head, “Ti gason estipid [2].” The hint of urgent concern in her voice has Briar Rose and Maggie exchanging looks.

“We shouldn’t waste any more time then.” Briar Rose clears her throat, “Let’s get to the infirmary.”

“Looks like you’ll be needing a trip there yourself, care to share what happened with you?” Researcher Dąbrowski raises an eyebrow, curious.

“We’ll probably have to speak with the Commander about it, so might as well wait a bit.” Maggie informs her. The three lapse into silence as they begin walking, Maggie’s eyes glued down at her feet while Briar Rose stares ahead. Researcher Dąbrowski looks between the two, then clears her throat.

“How about a fortune reading?” She snaps her fingers, three cards appearing between her pointer finger and her thumb.  A fortune reading, the best way to diffuse any kind of tense mood in her opinion. “Ah, here we’ve got...The Emperor, Ace of Cups and...ooh! The Fool, and you know what? They’re all upright. This is a really good one, you know.”

“The Emperor represents a male figure, how is that good for us?” Maggie scoffs, “Ace of Cups? The Fool? Briar Rose was a fool to think she could take on that creature by herself.”

“And you’re a fool to think you won’t get smacked if you keep talkin’.” Briar Rose counters, further messing up Maggie’s hair.  The shorter girl pushes her sister away with a furrow in her brow, once again combing the strays back into some kind of order. “Researcher Dąbrowski, please continue your reading, I wanna hear it.”

“Read in this order, this fortune can mean a new beginning for new feelings to arise with someone who may become a long-term partner for you.” Researcher Dąbrowski concludes, shaking her hand, the cards disappear in a flutter, leaving Briar Rose star-struck by the reading.

“R-Really! Like fer real?” Briar Rose stops walking, grabbing onto Researcher Dąbrowski and shaking her. “Like...new feelings...like feelings of...love?”

“Yes, Briar Rose.” Researcher Dąbrowski chuckles, pulling herself from Briar Rose’s grip. “The reading is the same for both of you. I wish you blessed luck in your romantic endeavors, as the Gods of the Cards smiles down upon you.”

“It’s about time!” Briar Rose stomps her foot, “Don’t you agree, Maggis?”

“No.” Maggie says curtly, “Anyway, we’re here. Wrap it up.” She didn’t care much for the romantic talk that Briar Rose was always so invested in. Her talents and attention were much better suited to research purposes than caring about boys or whatever it was Briar Rose did in her free time.

Researcher Dąbrowski stared at the two girls for a moment, a slight smile on her lips. “Let’s go see this idiot boy.”

Maggie pushes open the door to the infirmary, and the three are immediately greeted by hushed words in a language neither of the girls speaks. “—but seriously, dad. Thing was all touchin’ on me. I asked it to buy me dinner—back me up, Maya, I did, right?—but some people just don’t see my charm. Just like to get straight to the action.” Ricky easily switched back to English upon noting the newcomers in the room.

“Yo, Ricky. Sector Commander Dąbrowski.” Briar Rose threw up her good hand in greeting, “Heard you got rocked, boy. I heard there was a silver platter wit’ yo’ ass on it. What’s that about? Thought you were the Great and Powerful Ricky wit’ tha’ God Body. Right now it just seems like you’re the Minor and Powerless Ricky wit’ the Mortal Body.”

“First you come into my infirmary room. Give me a weak hello. Then you insult me. Can they leave?” Ricky asks his father, who only shakes his head, clearly amused by Briar Rose’s greeting.

“You deserve it, idiot boy.” Researcher Dąbrowski approaches with a quick, purposeful stride, smacking Ricky on the back of the head once she reaches him, “I was so worried about you, but here you are, making the quips and the funny one-liners. Do you even need the hospital room?”

“ _They_? I clearly haven’t said anything yet and you’re already trying to throw me out.  Guess that’s why you got your butt beat,” Maggie not so easily climbs her way up onto the end of Ricky’s infirmary bed, crossing her legs underneath her and pinched him affectionately on the leg.

“I already got whupped on by the beast, now everybody wanna give me these hits n’ all this.” Ricky scrunches up his legs, trying to make himself appear smaller.

“I haven’t hit you yet, but keep talkin’ and I might.” Briar Rose threatens, approaching the bed as well. “You already know your training regime is gonna be doubled soon as you’re out.”

“I thought you’d say that.” Ricky sighs, “Man, and here I thought I would get some sympathy from at least my momma.” Ricky sniffles, making his bottom lip quiver. “Momma gon’ hit me. _Me_! Her only-est son.”

“Might wanna triple yours then,” Maggie picks at the linen blanket covering the bed, ignoring the boy’s comment in place of instigating something else. Ricky immediately zones his attention on Maggie, then turns to Briar Rose, who is staring at Maggie with a steely gaze.

“Oooh, what’s that mean?” Ricky nudges Maggie, “Don’t keep ol’ Ricky out the loop, right?”

Maggie, with a juvenile smirk against her lips, looked up at Briar Rose teasingly.  Briar Rose gave a small, almost unnoticeable twitch of her head, trying to forbid the girl from saying anything, but Maggie instead shifted on the bed to launch into her story.  “Well, you see—”

“Good, everyone’s here.” The door opens once again and this time, the Commander walks in, followed closely by another individual. The two come to stand behind Briar Rose, “Glad you could all make it. I know it was a bit of travel time for you both, Janet, Maximus.”

“Well, someone has to come see about this boy.” Janet sighs, “So what happened to him?”

“I can tell the story myself, you know?” Ricky cut in, looking between all of the adults in the room who were acting like he was a child.  Neither of them responded as they continued to talk like he hadn’t even said anything. The boy gave the other two teens in the room a look, to which they returned with one of their own.  Briar Rose was surprised no one tried to pop him in the mouth for being a smartass, but she guessed they were giving him a grace period until he healed up.

“We were waiting for his captain to arrive before we spoke about it.” Commander Fleur informs her, “All that we are aware of is that Maya was able to escape with Ricky to the nearest safe house, where they were then transported back here. Ricky was unconscious the entire time.”

“So, Ricky barely made it to the fight, huh?” Briar Rose, not being able to miss an opportunity to pick fun at him, turned her attention on Ricky, then to Maya who was curled up on the bed, having been dozing for most of the conversation.

“Actually, I _did_ fight the creature, Briar Rose. Some kind of weird dog thing?” Ricky tilted his head, “All I know is, I was holding my own in that fight. You weren’t even there, so you don’t know what even happened between me and that mutated dog!”

“Dogs don’t stand like that and you know it, Ricky.” Maya yawned, her ears flicking about. “It was more like a penguin--but a really deformed penguin.”

“With a hole in its stomach. Yeesh, something out of an eldritch horror show.” Ricky shivered at his memory. Listening to Ricky’s words, Maggie continues to pick at the blanket, a blank expression clouding over her face. _Mutated dog...deformed penguin...hole?_ The girl perked up, head tilting to the side in thought as she took all of this new information in.  It all sounded rather familiar, and a little too close for comfort. Briar Rose gave her a strange look, and she shifted on the bed again, ready to express her revelation.

“By chance...” Maggie speaks up, turning slightly to look at Ricky, “Did it have some kind of mask on, that was white?”

“Yeah, really freaky with a cult cloak too.” Maya adds in, “We barely made any scratches on it even after Ricky ascended.”

Maggie slaps Ricky’s leg a few times, her excitement getting the better of her, “I thought the same thing too!”  Ricky winced, carefully nudging the girl's hand away from his leg.

“Glad the telepathy in the room is working, but for those of us not involved in it, can we speak with words?” Maximus speaks up, “Cloaks and masks? What’s that all about?”

“While investigating the cemetery—which, by the way, Briar Rose has a list of chores for you, Commander—we ended up facing off against a creature with similar characteristics to the one Ricky went up against. White mask, black cloak...what I’m assuming can be considered a thick outer skin due to the inability at piercing it under normal circumstances. These two creatures must be from the same race, however, we don’t know what race it is.”

“That’s...concerning.” The Commander presses a hand to his chin, “Ven, you’ve been around for a bit, does the description ring any bells to you?”  The young man that stood in the corner begin to blush when all attention was turned to him. He hadn’t said anything the entire time, and with the current information they were just given, he didn’t think he could be of much help

“Not particularly...” Ven responds, voice quiet,  “Maybe it’s a new form of beast.”

“Do you have more descriptions, I can whip up a drawing of it if you do.” Janet adds in, “This sounds very interesting, do you think they have weird grazing patterns as well? Can they take off the mask? What about the cloak? Is there—”

“Okay, dear.” Maximus pats his wife’s hand, trying to calm her from her tangent of questions. The woman always got riled up when confronted with a new species of supernatural creature. “I’m pretty sure Maggie, nor Maya for that matter, got the whole diagnosis of the creature and it’s habits since Briar Rose and Ricky were fighting both of them.”

“Well, weird grazing patterns is right. That thing almost took a bite out of a fae who set up a liminal space in the cemetery. There aren’t many creatures who have fairy in their diets.” Briar Rose comments, crossing her arms, “We tried to capture it for the science ner—I mean research departments to study, but due to a mishap, it was able to escape.” At that, Maggie avoids eye contact and bites the tip of her thumbnail.

“This is very concerning.” The Commander reiterates, frowning. “We’ll start with Ricky’s mission, then follow up with Captain Briar Rose and Agent Maggie’s.”

* * *

_August 20, 2018_

_9:00:01  PM_

**_Southern Sector,_ **

_New Orleans, Louisiana_

* * *

 “Is there anything else important that you need to inform me of pertaining to your missions?” The Commander asks the four, shifting in his chair. Ven continues scribbling down notes, seated next to the Commander, but if one were to glance at his notes, they would see he was just doodling on the paper. By this point, both tales had been told in detail, some more dramatic than others. Maximus and Janet had made themselves comfortable in chairs near Ricky’s bed, while Briar Rose had migrated to the bed, sitting up near the top with Ricky while Maggie retained her position near the foot of the bed with Maya.

Briar Rose and Maggie trade looks, as do Maya and Ricky. Ultimately, it is Briar Rose who speaks. “I believe we’ve relayed all the details of our missions to you, Commander.”

“Excellent.” The Commander clears his throat, “I’ll expect your detailed mission reports on my desk by Friday at the latest.” With this said, the Commander stands up, “Let’s leave Ricky to recover a bit more.”

The group of them stands, Maggie pushing off of the bed with a small pat to Ricky’s leg while Briar Rose uses her good hand to finish up a handshake with Ricky. He waves at the two girls as they go first, following after the Commander.

Ricky’s parents linger in the room with him for a bit longer. Briar Rose shuts the door after she and Maggie have exited and turns, coming face to face with the Commander. “Captain, Agent.” Commander Fleur addresses them both. The two stand up straighter, their bones cracking from having been sitting for so long.  At the tone of his voice, Briar Rose already knew that she wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “Your activities are to be suspended until Ricky has officially healed...and by default, yourself as well,” He gives Briar Rose a piercing look, clearly able to see through her charade. “This creature seems dangerous, even for your squadron. Do not pursue it as I know you would.”

“Yes, Commander.” Maggie’s response is immediate and accompanied by a curt nod and salute. Briar Rose stands still for a moment, watching the Commander, who in turn raises an eyebrow, waiting.

“Yes...Commander.” Briar Rose finally mumbles out, nodding and saluting, albeit much slower than Maggie.

“Good. I’ll look forward to seeing your reports. Commit greatness to your heart and excel where the blessed may depart.” The Commander bids them farewell and walks down the hall. Just as he does so, Ricky’s parents exit his room, bidding the girls goodnight before they too take their leave down the hall.

Rigidly, Briar Rose turns, opening Ricky’s room door and pulling a squawking Maggie in with her. As soon as the door closes, Briar Rose sinks to her knees, “No!” She wails, “I can’t be...suspended! This is blasphemy!”

“This isn’t blasphemy.  Blasphemy is the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things.  Or profane language, which Commander did neither of.” Maggie leans against the wall, checking the time on her phone calmly. “This, however,  is what happens when you get wrecked in a fight.” Maggie tells her, “Get up and stop the dramatics. Didn’t you wanna get home for that Fritay[3]?”

“Y’all having Fritay? Man...I wanna go home already!” Ricky whines from the bed. “How come Briar Rose got wrecked like me but she gets to walk around and have Fritay?”

“It’s fine,” Briar Rose sniffles, “It’s okay...Everything’s fine. Because...” She stands up, “I had my fingers crossed!” She wildly whirls around on Maggie, showing her crossed fingers, then thrusts them out so Ricky can see. “We’re _still_ going on a creature hunt. Maybe we’ll join a cult!”

“You say that like joining a cult is supposed to be _fun_. If anything, a cult is blasphemous.” Ricky deadpans, “Bring me some Fritay!” Briar Rose opens the door, dragging Maggie out of the room with not even so much as a glance towards Ricky. “Briar, Maggie? Bring me some Fritay! I’m serious!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terms to Know
> 
> [1] Ozark Howler: is a mythological creature that is purported to live in remote areas in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
> 
> [2] Ti gason estipid: stupid boy
> 
> [3] Fritay: is a fried food of haitian descent, made with potatoes or meats


	4. Mission III: Just Tuesday Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mission Notes
> 
> -Asphyxiation is a kink best left for the professionals.  
> -We didn’t stay out of business for long.  
> -Vaping isn’t only for the cool kids.  
> -One more strike and Maggie may very well be the only child soon.  
> -Have a terrifyingly terrific Tuesday! More like, have a terrifyingly terrible Tuesday.

* * *

_Tue Aug 21, 2018_

_07:20:30 AM_

_**Forest Lake High School** _

_New Orleans, Louisiana_

* * *

[Briar Rose isn't the best person to text in a Fritay Crisis, Ricky will learn.](https://www.dropbox.com/s/yuokm0g7wy11c3q/BriarRoseLockScreen.jpeg?dl=0)

[And neither is Michelle](https://www.dropbox.com/s/hdzg5bmswphzuru/MichelleLockScreen.PNG?dl=0)

[At least Maggie responds...](https://www.dropbox.com/s/q3ukfdkaokxd1nz/MaggienRicky.jpeg?dl=0)

* * *

“Why is Ricky asking for Fritay anyway?” Michelle adjusts her backpack, looking to Briar Rose, then to Maggie. She reaches the top of the steps first, pulling open the heavy door with more force than necessary. “His mom makes it for the first day back, too. Does that mean what I heard was true?”

“It depends on what you’ve heard.” Maggie comments, slipping through the door after Michelle and Briar Rose. The three entered the school, joining the dozens of students milling about in the main hallway, using this time to go to their lockers before the bell chimed.  “...What exactly have you heard?” 

“Something-something Ricky got into a fight something-something.” Michelle waves her hand uncommittedly, a quick roll of her eyes, “Mom wouldn’t tell me the specifics. You know how she _loves_ Ricky. Not a bad thing to say about that boy.”

“Your mom wishes you and Ricky were a thing.” Briar Rose chimes in, a slight chuckle after her words. “Your mom wishes _she_ and Ricky could have been a thing.”

“Honestly...a mood.” Michelle shakes her head, “It’s too bad. He’s not my type.” Michelle shrugs, turning her attention towards Briar Rose, “So what happened? Give ol’ Mitch the low down. I’m so mad I couldn’t go yesterday. I think this is all because of you, Maggie.”

“ _Me_?” Maggie blurts out, incredulous at Michelle’s accusation. “What do I have to do with your mother wanting Ricky to be in your family?”

“No, not that.” Michelle scoffs, “I’m talking about me not bein’ able to go, and Ricky apparently gettin’ hurt.” Maggie stares at Michelle blankly for a moment, before Michelle sighs, shaking her head, “That Magic Maggis Bad Luck spell has been cast all over us.”

“I don’t have a bad luck spell.” Maggie frowns, crossing her arms, “That was all bad timing–you had band practice to attend and Ricky bit off a lot more than he could possibly chew.”

“I think maybe you do.” Briar Rose joins in, grunting with effort, trying to walk normally. “I mean, look how badly I got hurt yesterday. And you’re walkin’ around like a spring chicken.”

“Yeah, but that’s normal for you, Bri.” Michelle pats her on the shoulder.  The girl paused for a moment, thinking over Briar Rose’s comment, before looking between the two sisters. “But, wouldn’t that mean _we_ have the bad luck? What a change of events. Either way, this is your fault for still trying to wear heels despite that jank-ass limp you got going on. Tell me: what’s your story for that, anyway?”

“Yes,” Maggie raises an eyebrow at Briar Rose, turning her gaze to her slowly, “What _is_ your story for your limp? We practiced at home, but I’m more than sure you’ve forgotten what we decided on.”

Briar Rose taps a finger against her chin as the three stop in front of a small section of lockers in an almost secluded area. Despite the location, the area is bustling with students, most leaning against lockers or standing in the hallway chatting. No matter how busy the hallways were in the morning, it was obvious that sleep was something that they all agreed they missed. This particular area of the hall was a little less busy than the main hallways, and the mellow vibes of the section enough to make even a morning person want to go back to bed.  Michelle moves first, putting in the combination to her shared locker with Briar Rose and opens it, bypassing the covered locker door to reach inside, pulling out a textbook.

“Something about Brutus, wasn’t it?” Briar Rose finally answers, looking at Maggie for confirmation. “He bit me, right?”

“No.  Why on _earth_ would you ever tell someone that our dog bit you and left you this banged up?” Maggie swiftly denies, appalled that her sister could mess up the story in such a way, “You were walkin–”

“Ooh, you know what you should say, Bri?” Michelle taps  Briar Rose’s shoulder to get her attention, successfully interrupting Maggie mid sentence, “Say you were doing sick kickflips on your new skateboard and landed on your ankle weird. Josh would _love_ that.”

Briar Rose blinked, then nodded as a slow smile spread across her face. Josh _would_ love that, wouldn’t he? “Yeah, totally. I’m totally gonna say that.”

“No. You’re not.” Maggie rolls her eyes, promptly slapping Michelle in her side sharply, “You can’t even ride a skateboard. Actually, more than that: you don’t even _own_ a skateboard. You’ve never even seen a skateboard in person.”

“Yes, I have!” Briar Rose insists, “ _Josh_ rides a skateboard. And even if I don’t know how to ride a skateboard, if I say it...he’s more than likely to talk to me, isn’t he?”  Briar Rose gave a blissful sigh at the thought, a corny grin spreading against her lips.

“Alright, I’ll entertain this fantasy. Say he does talk to you about skateboards if you use this excuse, what are you going to say?” Maggie asks, adjusting the glasses on her face. Her stare was unnerving to Briar Rose, who looks away, coughing as she checks her phone.  Maggie grinned, holding her nose up in the air in triumph. “That’s just about what I thought you would say.”

“Sh-Shut up...” Briar Rose weakly counters, only causing her sister to mimic her stutter teasingly.  A heavy frown marrs her face as she looks away from her sister, although Maggie only sighs once more, rolling her eyes at the lovestruck girl.

“You two still never answered me,” Michelle chimes inn again, “And in turn, I never answered Ricky. _Bring me some fri-tay_ head ass...What happened yesterday?” 

There were only a few minutes left until the bell rang, and taking this as their cue, Maggie and Briar Rose launched into the tale of what Michelle had missed from the previous day; Ricky’s mission, their mission, and everything else in-between.  As their recounting of the events came to an end, Briar Rose closes their locker and turns to Michelle, whose face is frozen in an odd mix between sheer amusement and shock. 

“Wai-wai-wait.” Michelle holds up her hands, sucking in a noisy deep breath, “So...you mean to tell me. _So_ , you’re telling me. That Ricky. _The_ Ricky. _The_ Rico Suave. _The_ Unstoppable Force. The man, the myth, the legend? The Man of a Million Characteristics. Got his ass rocked? Got his ass whupped? Was handed not one...but _two_ Polish-Haitian cheeks on a platter? I can’t believe it. Fredericks the Third? Are you sure it was _our_ Fredericks? Those cheeks, I pray for them.”

“You’re being rather coy at the moment, but it doesn’t change the fact that, yes, _our_ Fredricks. I’m more than sure I remember him lying in the hospital bed when we had our debrief.” Maggie shuts her own locker, throwing her book bag over her shoulder. “Unless we all know someone else with the name Fredericks.”

“No way. Not that guy. He is tough.” Michelle clears her throat, “I give him well wishes for a speedy recovery. I’m still shook that y’all done faced the same kinda weird cult monster or whatever like dat. What’s up with that?”

“Is there a reason why we’re still discussing this in a hallway full of individuals that could potentially be liabilities?” Maggie asked, speaking low and fast to the two girls that walked beside her. She blinked multiple times, staring off into space as she realized her two companions had flat-out ignored her comment. 

“You’re tellin’ me.” Briar Rose shakes her head, not even bothering to respond to Maggie’s concerns. “It’s so odd. Ven and the nerds–A.K.A. Maggie and Ana–think that it’s some sort of hybrid creature. I think it’s just a freak of nature, as usual.” Maggie sucks her teeth, scoffing at Briar Rose’s words, but doesn’t bother responding.

“Well, you said that the Commander suspended y’all, which means by association, I’m also suspended. How are we gonna track this thing down–actually, is it  even trackedable?” Michelle asks.

“Trackable,” Maggie throws out, but unmindful of it, Michelle continued on with her thoughts.

“Knowing you, you’re not gonna sit still until ya find ol’ culty.”

“An’ yer right.” Briar Rose shoots finger-guns at Michelle, winking, “After school, we’re gonna go look around areas with high levels of spiritual energy. It’ll be...” Briar Rose pauses for effect, _“An undercover mission.”_

“It’ll be _the_ irresponsible activity that gets us in an ass load of trouble, is what it’ll be,” Maggie mutters, picking at her nails when her sister threw her a look.

The vibration of the watches on each of their wrists has them all glancing at their watches, however, none of them pay it too much mind as the hallway becomes more crowded the closer time ticks to the first bell. Maggie takes her time to look through her notes, as she has a test in her first period–AP classes killed–while Briar Rose and Michelle listed off areas they knew with high spiritual energy to each other, neither bothering to write down their thoughts.

With her two companions facing the locker, Maggie glances around the hallway, noting the sudden lack of students. It was almost eerie, how quickly the students had vacated the hallway. Aside from the three, very few lingered around the area, leaving Maggie with a strange feeling. She shakes it off, shoulders her backpack and tucked her book underneath her arm.

Just as she moves to step away from the locker, someone quickly walks by, nearly colliding with her as they do so. Maggie grunts, stumbling back the smallest bit and frowns. She knew she was short, but she was still very visible. She looks to her two companions, noting that neither seem to have even noticed, still talking amongst themselves in half-sentences and giggles that she assumed only close friends did.

Maggie’s gaze travels away from them and towards the speed walking menace, who had only moved a couple of paces ahead of her on the opposite side of the hallway. A quick scan of the boy showed that he was a little jittery, and looked kind of forlorn as if everything he loved had been taken from him. In a way, looking at him made Maggie feel bad for him. Of course, he hadn’t apologized for nearly running her out of the hallway, but with how he looked, she’d forgive him just this once.

It was still rather odd that he looked so exhausted as if he hadn’t slept in days. School had only just started yesterday, and she was sure a lot of classes were still in the discuss the syllabus stage. There, on the floor of the hallway between them, Maggie spots a small notebook. Before she can mentally react, her body has already started moving towards it. Snatching it up off the ground, Maggie’s steps slow a bit as she reaches the other side of the hallway. She stares at the notebook, which is covered in drawings and doodles before she clears her throat. The sound gets stuck in her mouth as she feels the hairs on her arms and neck prickle. Something was off about this boy, but she still couldn’t place what. 

Everything around him felt frigid and being so close to him made her feel marginally more tired than she should have. Somewhere in her mind, the classic ghostbusting part of her brain warned her that there was something inhuman about this boy.  He was mumbling to himself, small, animalistic grunts leaving his throat. Maggie, unbeknownst to her, moved back half a step with the hand holding the notebook tremoring softly. 

There was no way, she tried to convince herself.  Perhaps she was being paranoid from the events that happened yesterday, or from the fact that Briar Rose and Michelle were already charting their demise early in the morning. Everyone at their school had been screened for any signs of spiritual awareness. There was no one there, other than their small group, that had any amount of spiritual energy that was of interest. The year had only started not even two whole days ago...it just wasn’t possible.  Their branch was very meticulous about these kinds of things; every student, faculty, and otherwise were checked for any kind of benign or malignant signs. 

So, how, or more importantly, _why_ did he feel like such darkness? Maggie looks back across the hallway to her sister and Michelle. The two still haven’t noticed Maggie’s absence. Maggie shakes the feeling away, clearing her throat once again. “Hey, uh...” Maggie wracked her brain, trying to remember how Briar Rose and Michelle spoke. “Yer dropped thi–”

All sound dies out of her throat at the look the boy gives her. His eyes were brown, but they resembled dry, cracked mud. The type of pupil-less color that is devoid of most anything. His skin is nearly ashen, with hollow cheeks and dry, cracked lips. He stares at her, almost as if staring into the deepest recesses of her mind and soul. Maggie feeling extremely uncomfortable, glances away quickly. “I-I-I-I–um...y-you...Notebook.” Maggie finishes her response lamely, gaze all but glued to the floor. She can feel his blank stare boring into her curls, and that unnerves her even more. Much more than the fact that he has yet to reach for the notebook in her outstretched hand.

It happens just as quickly as Maggie looks up. The scream elicits her flight or fight response, but as he reaches out to press his hand against her neck, Maggie vaguely remembers her mother saying there weren’t only two responses, but instead, there were three. Flight, fight or _freeze_ , and at that moment, the girl felt like she was in the Arctic.

With strength surprising to her, considering how gangly the boy looked, he manages to slam Maggie down against the cracked, dirty tiles of the floor, his hands still wrapped firmly around her neck. The scream does nothing to help her, instead, her ears ring even louder from the continuous high note the boy emits. The sound imitated that of a banshee and that thought alone had her heart hammering inside her chest.  Was she really going to die?

It doesn’t last long, however. Maggie doesn’t even register that his hands were even truly choking her until she has her own hand wrapped around her neck and Michelle is loudly asking her if she’s alright. She feels like she’s watching herself from afar. As if she’s not in the moment. Everything echoes, from Michelle’s words of concern to Briar Rose’s loud threats of pain to the limp pile of human in Briar Rose’s tight grasp.

The slowness leaves almost too quickly and Maggie feels herself return to her body. The first thing she notes is her heavy breathing, an uncomfortable mix between coughing and choking. She also notes the small tears forming in the corner of her eyes and how Michelle is sliding her back further away from the boy. And finally the mass of students and teachers in the hallway, trying to placate Briar Rose to make her let go of the boy.

Briar Rose tosses the boy at one of the teachers, turning to stare them in the face. “He attacked my sister!” Briar Rose repeats for the fifth time, “Unprovoked!” 

Maggie’s eyes dart from Briar Rose to the teachers, who have their hands up, trying to calm her down. Her gaze is then drawn to the boy, who is still limply passed out in one of the teachers’ arms. She isn’t sure whether it’s a trick of the light, her own mind, or actual truth, but a small slithering... _mass_ detaches itself from the boy, then disappears.

Maggie looks at Michelle, her breathing much calmer, and finally she’s able to hear her words, “Maggie, you alright? You wanna go home?” The hallway started clearing up, teachers ushering students back into their classrooms. In the end, only the three of them and one other teacher remained in the hallway.

“N-No...” Maggie’s voice is oddly hoarse, “I think I’ll be fine.” Briar Rose joins them, lifting Maggie onto her feet and staring at her. She checks her over, dusting off the girl’s hair and clothes. Maggie stands on her feet, a little shaky, and grips onto Briar Rose’s arm for support.

“Are y’ sure?” Briar Rose asks, “M’sure dad wouldn’ mind comin’ home early. We can postpone th’ whole after-school trip until yer alright.”

“No,” Maggie speaks, her voice sounding a little harsher than she wanted, “It’s–It’s fine. I’m fine. He... I think there was something wrong with him.”  Her hand has still yet to leave her throat, briefly wondering if she was going to bruise.

“Yeah, there was!” Michelle blurts, “He freakin’ attacked ya! Outta nowhere! What’s wrong wit these kids?”

“No...I mean something was _wrong_ with him.” Maggie emphasizes. It takes both Briar Rose and Michelle a moment, but the two gasp.

“Briar Rose, Michelle!” The teacher calls, “I’ll escort your sister to class, but you two need to get a move on.”  Briar Rose opens her mouth to protest, however, the squeeze her sister leaves on her arm has her stopping. Maggie shakes her head at the girl, taking a deep breath and gathering up her things.

“T-thank you.  I appreciate that.  You two go ahead to class, I’ll be alright,” She offers the girls a small smile, although it was clear she was still shaken by the events. Michelle sighed, scratching her nose and looking up at her best friend, who seemed like she didn’t believe the smaller girl.

“We’ll see ya at lunch, a’right?  In the meantime, don’t go gettin’ into anymore westlin’ matches,” Michelle, attempting to alleviate the tension, jokes, tapping Maggie under the chin before grabbing Briar Rose’s arm.

“We _can_ go home, Maggie.” Briar Rose tries one more time, but Maggie just shakes her head and pushes her sister in the other direction.

“I wouldn’t be your sister if I ran away so easily.  Go to class, you need the education. We don’t want you just being the brawn.” She waves at the two, following after the teacher with slow steps, leaving Briar Rose and Michelle in the hall by themselves.

* * *

By the time lunch rolls around, the news of that morning’s event has traveled all across the campus. Briar Rose sits at the lunch table, her knee bouncing with enough force to shake the table while Michelle tries to calmly eat her processed tuna sandwich. “Briar!” Michelle snaps as she misses her mouth once again. “Maggie will be here, just take a moment to eat your freakin’ fruit cup. I want to eat my tuna sandwich without getting it all over my beautiful face.”

The table immediately stops moving, and Briar Rose looks down at her nearly empty tray. “Maybe you should eat faster.” Briar Rose watches Michelle, “Then you wouldn’t have to worry about that. Also, tuna is really gross.” She looks past Michelle flipping her off towards the doors of the cafeteria. Her hopes rise with the inward swing of the door are instantly dashed with the outward swing in the wake of the few who entered.

“Is Maggie alright?” The curly haired newcomer sits down at their table, taking out his brown paper bag and pulling out a plastic wrapped sandwich. “I didn’t get to see her at all since it’s Yellow Day schedules.”

“Hello to you too, Tobias. We’re fine, thanks for asking.” Michelle drawls, putting down her sandwich. It didn’t look like she’d be able to finish it with these two around. “We haven’t seen Maggie since this morning—you know, being dumbasses and seniors.”

“I’m aware of what you are, but that doesn’t answer my question. I heard Maggie got attacked!” Tobias runs a hand through his curly hair. “My poor Magnolia...she didn’t deserve that.”

“I agree with you, but she’s not your poor Magnolia.” Briar Rose narrows her gaze at him. “So you best keep those words out your mouth.”

“I also heard you beat up a kid. Josh was talking about it in gym class.” Tobias shivers at the thought of the class.

“Josh...was talking about _me_?” Briar Rose perked up, “Tobias, what did he say? Was it something good? Did he say I was cute? He thought I was really cool?”

“Nah, he said you were scary.” Tobias responded, instantly deflating Briar Rose, “I don’t even know what you see in that idiot. He’s like the cardboard box you get the chicken nuggets in at McDonald’s, but all that’s in it is air.”

“Don’t talk about Josh like that!” Briar Rose snaps, “He’s kind and funny... and he’s really cute. He probably didn’t say I was...creepy.”

“He probably did.” Maggie joins in, sitting across from her sister and next to Michelle. “Give up on that guy, he’s not worth the time or effort you put in.”

“I kinda gotta agree with Magic Maggis over here, Bri.” Michelle adds in. “If he doesn’t appreciate the fact that you’re able to bench press a car, he’s not worth your time.”

“Maggie, are you alright? I heard what happened!” Tobias immediately turns his attention onto Maggie, though the girl brushes off his concerns. 

“Yes, I’m fine, Tobias. Thank you for asking.” Maggie replies curtly. “Everyone has been giving me pitying looks today, on top of being extremely nice to me. Even some of those popular kids...it’s actually very annoying.” Maggie picks at the fries on her tray. “So, about what I said this morning.”

“Actually, I heard something about that boy earlier.” Briar Rose snaps her fingers, “I went by the nurse’s office to see if he was still there. Mr. Kaplan said it might be a good idea if I apologized, but I was just going to go and threaten him again.”

“How very brutish of you.” Tobias mumbles, rolling his eyes.

“On my way there, I heard some students talking about him. They said Mike—that’s his name—has a violent reaction to spiders. He’s been known to do pretty much anything to get rid of them. I know that just sounds odd, but when I got to the nurse’s office, he was explaining to someone that Maggie looked like a huge spider to him, that’s why he choked her. I mean, does he choke regular spiders?”

“So did you threaten him?” Michelle questioned, “I mean, that’s the most important part of the story, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t get the chance. He passed out and the nurse kicked me out.” Briar Rose sighs, “I’ll do it next time.”

“You shouldn’t do it at all.” Maggie smacks her sister’s hand. “He might be possessed, so at this moment in time, we don’t know if his actions were his own, therefore, he cannot be held accountable.”

“I love it when you talk proper to me, and I’m sure Tobias does, too.” Michelle winks at Maggie, “But that still doesn’t excuse this. Should we put the beast hunt on hold to see about Michael Myers, then?”

“Beast hunt? Didn’t you get the mission notice sent out this morning?” Tobias looks around the table. Briar Rose and Michelle return his glances with blank stares, while Maggie nods. “I know this morning was a bit messy, but you still could have checked during class. Especially since all the two of you do is play iPhone games and send memes.”

“Hey! Those are quality memes and there is a _lot_ of work and maintenance that goes into maintaining a long-lasting female friendship.” Michelle barks, pointing an accusatory finger at Tobias. “Your negativity isn’t welcomed.”

“Getting back on the task at hand,” Maggie waves her hand, gathering their attention, “The mission notice reinstated our field activities, as well as assigning us to look into the disturbance here at the school. Nothing stays quiet around here, apparently.”

“Reinstated?” Briar Rose glances at her watch, quickly tapping it a few times before her phone rings. 

* * *

  **FROM** : MISSION ALERTS

Tue Aug 21, 2018 07:20 AM

 **SITUATION** : REINSTATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES

 **RECIPIENT** : TEAM LUCIDUM CAPTAIN F, BRIAR ROSE 

Due to recent developments, there has been a call for the reinstatement of all activities.  Please remain on standby for more information regarding your next mission. Thank you for your continued service in our organization.

Ut stantes, nusquam est sola fides.

* * *

“He’s right, we’ve gotten the go-ahead to resume activities.” Briar Rose then locks her phone, “This is great! I wasn’t expecting a reinstatement so soon, but...Me likey. After school, we’re going to go after that creature!”

“The taller you get, the more your ideas worsen.” Maggie frowns, looking at her sister, “You do realize that not following orders is the quickest way to another suspension right? And the quickest way to get on the Commander’s bad side as well.”

“Well,” Michelle snatches a fry off of Maggie’s tray, “At least this time, I’ll actually be there to get suspended and not, like, suspended by association. Anyway, what they don’t know won’t hurt them. We just need Randall to keep his mouth shut.”

“Don’t call me that,” Tobias grunts, “I won’t tell. If Maggie is going, then I’ll go too. You guys could use some logic.”

“We have Maggie for that, thank you for your unwanted opinion.” Briar Rose glared at him, “Don’t you have something to do at the base anyway? I distinctly remember you being on front desk duty in the library.”

“Okay, so how exactly are we going to resume these activities?” Maggie cuts in before Tobias can respond, taking a bite of her chicken sandwich and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

“First things first, we need to get out of the cafeteria.” Briar Rose declared. Her eyes scanned across the room, looking for the teachers loitering around the area. “If we can time it correctly, we’ll be able to leave the lunch room when nobody is paying attention.”

“What exactly are we going to _do_ when we leave the cafeteria, though? I mean, I’m all for skippin’ the rest of the day to start the beast hunt, but Mandark over here might tell on us. Deedee, will you stop him?” Michelle nudges Maggie, grinning at the girl’s perturbed facial expressions.

Before anyone can respond to Michelle’s question, another mission alert has each of their watches vibrating. Maggie checks it this time, reading it to the table’s occupants.

* * *

 **FROM:** MISSION ALERTS

Tue Aug 21, 2018 12:34 PM

 **SITUATION** : DISTURBANCE LOCATED

 **RECIPIENT** : TEAM LUCIDUM AGENT F, ANERI MAGNOLIA

New mission has been uploaded into your system.  A concerning amount of spiritual energy has alerted systems in the location 29.9393° N, 90.1214° W.  Please proceed to the following route with caution. It is advised that the threat must be terminated.

Ut stantes, nusquam est sola fides.

* * *

“This...is...great!” Briar Rose cheers, clapping her hands, “Can you guys believe it? _Two_ adventures in one day. This is better than great, this is amazing!”

“Hold your horses.” Tobias throws his hands out to stop Briar Rose from leaving the table. “Are we going to investigate both after school? That’s not enough time to thoroughly and properly—”

“You go out into the field like once every five years, Punxsutawney Phil.” Michelle rolls her eyes. She glances around before picking up her backpack and slapping it down onto the table. “Why would we wait for later when we can just go now, lol.”

“I don’t like the sound of that. And nobody says ‘lol’ out loud like that.” Tobias mumbles, though his complaints go unresponded as Michelle pulls hall passes out of her bag, sliding one to each of them. Briar Rose eagerly takes hers, pulling a pen out of her bag. Tobias and Maggie take their time to look at the hall passes, staring at each other for a moment before both sigh. Briar Rose and Michelle were walking trouble magnets, and really, they had no choice but to go along with their hair-brained schemes.

“Put that we’re all goin’ to the library. But we _won’t_ be going to the library.” Briar Rose wags her eyebrows, writing down on her own hall pass.

“I’m pretty sure that was implied, but for posterity’s sake, I have to ask you: where are we going, instead?” Tobias questions. Briar Rose rolls her eyes, Tobias’ constant questioning of her orders was the exact reason he wasn’t a member of her team. She probably would’ve injured the boy by now, even more so if she had to deal with him constantly. She couldn’t figure out how Ricky had become such good friends with him, when he acted like this.

“I think I would rather go to the library,” Maggie mumbled quietly, already not liking where this was going.  But, as usual, her comment was ignored and she was left to be wary on her own.

“We’ll figure that out when we get out of the cafeteria, Randall.” Briar Rose clears her throat, “Did everyone finish writing?” A small chorus of mumbled agreement ripples across the table and Briar Rose is the first to stand, snatching her backpack from the seat. “Good, let’s get going.”

Making it out of the cafeteria was rather easy. The teacher positioned closest to the door didn’t care much for looking at their forged passes and allowed them to leave, the door closing noisily behind them.

“We’re out much easier than you imagined, huh, Briar?” Maggie looks to her sister, “What do you propose we do now, Captain?”

Briar Rose lifts her wrist, tapping on the screen and using the provided map from the alerts to guide them. The map leads them to the left, towards a lesser used hallway in the school. The background noise of the cafeteria slowly faded away the farther that they walked away from the area. Now with the noise from the cafeteria gone, there was an uncomfortable hush that took over the deserted hall, heightening their sense of anticipation.

Briar Rose raises her hand, glancing from her left to her right, “Keep your eyes trained on anything out of the ordinary.” As the group continued on, the cautious pace that was set by the unsettling quietness seemed a bit too slow for Briar Rose, and her limbs jittered with expectation. 

“D’yer see anythin’?” Michelle’s voice sounded further away that it should have been, and her words slurred in a sudden exhaustion. Briar Rose looked back to her group, noting the slight lag between them all, with Tobias dragging heavily in the back of the group.

As if on cue, the group yawned in synchronization, their steps slowing. “Somethin’s up.” Tobias slurs, “How’re we all feelin’ like this?” Michelle lethargically offers a half-shrug while Briar Rose stops walking, and turns to the group. 

“We...need to be...um,” Maggie yawns, hand covering her mouth as she does so, “Um...ca-careful...yeah.”

“You four!” A loud voice catches their attention from down the hall, breaking the short spell that seemed to be cast upon them. The quickest they’ve moved in those few minutes, the group turns, catching sight of someone standing further down the hallway. “What are y’all doin’ out here in the middle of the period! Where are your hall passes?” 

Briar Rose and Maggie move, standing close to each other while Michelle and Tobias stand behind them. Tobias opens his mouth to respond, wanting to be truthful, but the only thing that comes out is a heavy groan.

Maggie turns, raising an eyebrow at Tobias while Michelle pretends to be the concerned friend. “Oh no! Tobias, I told you not to eat that cheese! Yer all lactose n’tolared, y’know.” Michelle’s voice hitches with concern. 

With Tobias slightly limping, the group of four meet the teacher in the middle of the hallway. “Tobias is feeling kind of sick, mister.” Briar Rose jumps in, frowning at the boy, “I think he should go to the nurse n’ alladat.”

The teacher looks Tobias over, who is still hunched over on Michelle’s shoulder while she pats his back soothingly.  The boy attempts to shove her off with a grimace, but she just grips his shoulder and held him tighter to her, keeping him in place. “He doesn’t look very good...I was headed that way anyway, so I can take him. You two.” He points at Briar Rose and Michelle, “Hurry up back to your class.”

Michelle and Briar Rose nod, helping shift Tobias over to the teacher. Tobias groans once again during the shift. Briar Rose, Michelle and Maggie all move to continue their trek down the hallway when the teacher stops Maggie. “Ah, Aneri Magnolia, maybe you should head to the nurse’s office as well. This morning was rather traumatic for you, wasn’t it? And I heard you didn’t even go to the nurse, either.”

“I don’t need to go. I’m fine.” Maggie tries, giving the teacher a smile, “I think more attention should be given to Tobias, after all, he is the one who recently got hurt—er, is in pain.” Maggie watches the teacher for a moment, something about him unsettling to her. 

“No, I think you should go.” Briar Rose nudges Maggie on the arm, “Tobias could use some support and you should get that neck checked out.” Maggie looks to her sister, a slight pleading look in her eyes that Briar Rose barely acknowledges before she returns it with a stern look of her own. Maggie frowns, Briar Rose was so going to hear it from her later on.

“...Fine...” Maggie agrees after a tense few seconds of internal debate. Maggie, Tobias, and the teacher walk past Briar Rose and Michelle, who stand in the hallway a moment longer to watch them leave. 

When Maggie turns forward, out of the corner of her eye, something slithers off of the teacher. She blinks, turning back towards Briar Rose and Michelle, who have already begun walking only to see nothing there. She couldn’t have imagined it, there was something there. And now it was gone.

* * *

With the glaring absence of two of their members, Briar Rose and Michelle continue onward down the hallway, feeling a little bit more awake than they previously had. With the amount of eyes to scan the area limited, Michelle and Briar Rose glance around at everything for only a few seconds at a time, though nothing of note seems to pique their interest.

“It’d be nice if we had some kind of description of exactly what the disturbance was.” Michelle commented, blowing air out of her mouth. “Chances are, they barely know what it is themselves at the moment,” She crosses her arms as they walk, turning her wrist slightly to check the time. “It hasn’t been that long since we started, but we may have to take a break, since the bell’s about t’ ring.”

“Dammit,” Briar Rose grunts, looking to one of the clocks above the rows of lockers, the bell was due to ring in just moments, and that didn’t give them much time to find a place to avoid the crowds, let alone find any compelling clues. Briar Rose turns to Michelle, who seems to have trouble breathing in the suddenly tight air space. Briar Rose reaches her hand out to Michelle, seeing the panic rising in her eyes.

The space felt suffocating, with too much spiritual energy leaking and overflowing into the hallways. The lights dimmed, flickering on and off like a pinball machine.  A few bulbs shattered at the high, intense energy that encased the hallway, causing both of them to flinch and reach for their head to protect themselves from any of the falling glass.

Michelle coughed, trying to clear her throat as much as she could while Briar Rose looked around. Something was there, something was causing this, and it felt weirdly familiar to Briar Rose. She pulled Michelle closer to her, eyes darting around the empty hallway for any signs of life, but the potent energy in the area almost dulled her senses. 

“What the hell...?” Michelle manages to choke out, her eyes slowly moving from the flickering hallway lights to Briar Rose.

“This energy, it’s familiar.” Briar Rose stops Michelle, “I...that creature.” Briar Rose racks her brain, trying to figure out how to describe the energy to Michelle. 

However, she doesn’t get the chance as she hears Michelle whisper, “Oh _fuck_.” Before Briar Rose can actively react, Michelle has knocked them both off to the side. Briar Rose catches sight of the creature out of the corner of her eye all garbed in black and the beginnings of the high pitched wailing pouring out of its mouth. 

Without waiting, Briar Rose is the first to get up, dragging Michelle with her until the girl is able to stand and run on her own. “For some reason I thought it would be some kind of cartoon-y lookin’ thing, not a fuckin’ depths of the nether realm headass!” Michelle screams.

“We told you!” Briar Rose screeches back, “Last time it was goin’ after us fer the energy! Take th’ left, it’s prolly gonna follow me!” Briar Rose pushes Michelle down the left corridor while she takes the right.  After a few seconds of running and no feeling of hairs prickling the back of her neck, Briar Rose chanced a glance behind her, expecting to see the grotesque being clambering after her. However, she was greeted with nothing but a long, dimly lit corridor. 

She skids, stopping just short of another classroom door. Distantly, she can hear the bell ring, but no students come out of any of the classroom doors. Everything sounds distant, and the slight warped feeling of the area has Briar Rose stumbling over to the rows of lockers for groundage. “Liminal spaces suck.” Briar Rose grunts out, turning her gaze towards where she just came from.

There was nothing to be heard anymore, not even Michelle or that beast, “Michelle!” Briar Rose called out, as if expecting an answer, though the only thing received was silence. Briar Rose grunts, pushing off of the locker, though her hand doesn’t leave it altogether. The first rule of a liminal space was to find something to ground yourself, and while at the moment the ground wasn’t being particularly helpful, this locker was doing the trick. Briar Rose’s hand glided against the locker as she speed-walked back the way she came. Running would only make things feel as if they were farther away, and she needed to get back to Michelle as soon as she could.

Reaching the end of the row of lockers, Briar Rose sucked in a quick breath, her hand having clipped the edge of it. Momentarily, she pulls her hand off of the locker and presses her back to it, checking out the injury. It wasn’t big, or even very noticeable, but something about it made her tired.

Briar Rose slid down the length of the lockers, feeling her legs give out within seconds of staring at her wound. She rubs her eyes with her free hand, then stares at both for a moment, waving them. Something was wrong. Was there something here that wanted to protect its liminal space, so much that it resulted to making those who entered hallucinate? Briar Rose didn’t have much time to think as her vision and mind became hazy from the effort of staying awake. 

Her fight to stay awake, let alone stand, is one that she doesn’t win.

* * *

“Did you notice anything off about that teacher, Tobias?” Maggie asked, her voice in a hushed tone as she leaned closer to Tobias. She stood to the side of the bed Tobias was lying on, looking down at him. Tobias shook his head, shrugging as he waited for Maggie to elaborate. “When we first encountered him in the hallway, you didn’t notice that he looked rather distant?” She was struggling to describe what it was that she saw, as she wasn’t sure if she actually saw it at all.  However, something about that teacher left her feeling a bit strange.

“I definitely didn’t see anything like that, Maggie.” Tobias responded, “I mean, granted I _was_ doubled over in pain because of Michelle’s heavy hands, but...All I actively noticed was the difference in atmosphere and spiritual pressure when we walked down that one hallway. How we all got tired and sluggish at the same time? Your sister and Michelle foolishly continued on even though they shouldn’t have.”

Maggie gives Tobias a look, to which he doesn’t return, instead, he looks down at his hands. “The teacher seems to return to normal once we left that specific area. I’m assuming that whatever we are currently trying to terminate for the mission is in that hallway. There was...I’m not sure how I should explain this, but, and for lack of a better description, it looked as if a black mass was detaching itself from him. I didn’t get a good look at it, nor was I able to accurately pinpoint its whereabouts after it removed itself from him.”

Tobias looked down at his watch, “I don’t doubt your claims, Maggie. If anything, I support them.” He shakes his watch slightly and a 3D graph appears in front of them. “This graph is of spiritual energy that is constantly around me. This one is you...that’s Michelle and this last one is Briar Rose. This,” Tobias points to a rather erratic up and down red line, “Is an unknown entities energy. Not to mention that the watch was vibrating erratically as well.”

“That’s all very nice, but can we not showcase such sensitive material in a public area,” Maggie huffed, pressing a simple button on his watch and the graph collapsed quickly as if it was never there.  She wasn’t sure why her team felt the need to recklessly use their equipment where anyone and everyone could potentially see it.

“I’m sorry, Maggie.” Tobias cleared his throat. “We’re the only ones in here, so I assumed...” Tobias sits up further, “Regardless, we should make our way back to that hallway. Briar Rose and Michelle are probably in need of our help.”

Unexpectedly, the curtain around Tobias’ bed opens and the nurse appears, looking rather tired and unimpressed. She holds out two passes and candy to them. “Tobias, have another peppermint. Maggie, you’re all clear. Now _please_ stop coming here to hide. You both know it’s Tuesday and Tuesday is my alone time day. I’ve signed your passes, so I don’t really care where you go as long as it ain’t here.”

“Thanks, Nurse Flores.” The two respond as Maggie takes the two passes and peppermint from Nurse Flores. Nurse Flores then whips around and heads back to her desk to sit down. Tobias swings his legs over the edge of the bed and stands, hovering over Maggie, who hands him his mint.

Tobias gingerly takes the peppermint from Maggie, “We’ll write on the passes in the hallway,” Maggie says quietly. “However, we have to be very quick in our return to Briar Rose and Michelle’s location.”

After leaving the nurse’s office, the two waste no time in speed walking toward the cafeteria’s hallway. When they arrive, lunch is over, which doesn’t deter either of them in the slightest. They quickly move past the cafeteria and turn into the hallway they’d left Briar Rose and Michelle in.

“I think we missed something,” Tobias states, looking at the occupants of the hallway. “Either there was some cult sacrifice or everyone’s protesting by nap.”

“I’m pretty sure that nobody would sleep on this dirty floor, Tobias.” Maggie scans the students lined up in rows on the floor of the hallway. “Clearly this has something to do with the aforementioned disturbance. Although... Where are Briar Rose and Michelle? They couldn’t have gone far and I don’t sense anything yet.”

“They could be possibly further down the hallway?” Tobias lifts his watch,” These energy signatures are muffled somewhat...This might be a liminal space.”

“That would accurately explain why we felt so sluggish earlier.” Maggie placed a hand against her chin, “We have no other option but to continue into the liminal space. Perhaps we’ll be able to get a better reading on their signatures the further in we go.”

Despite his apprehension, Tobias agrees and follows Maggie as she picks her way around the bodies. They don’t get very far, as Maggie bends down to check on one of the students, hand beneath their nose to check for any signs of breathing.  To her relief, the student seemed to just be in a deep sleep. Although, she couldn’t quite say that it was a comfortable one. Tobias looks further down the hallway, only to see someone in the distance running towards them.

The shrieking gets closer and closer before Tobias is suddenly on his back and staring up at the sky. He groans, immediately pressing his hand to his head. “Damn, Tobias. Did I hit you that hard earlier? So hard in fact, that you couldn’t hear my screaming?”

“Michelle!” Tobias and Maggie yelp, though in varying degrees of emotion. Maggie helps Michelle stand while Tobias sits up, a slight pout at the fact that Maggie didn’t help him up. “Are you alright? What happened? Where is Briar Rose?”

“Yes, it’s me. The woman, the wealth, the saga. I got chased your weird cult buddy. Briar said it wouldn’t go after me since I got the lower spiritual energy....but clearly, she’s a lie. After we split in the hallway, I couldn’t find her. I didn’t get to look all that much on a count of I was being chased for my life. Y’know, just supernatural things, teehee.” Michelle presses her finger against her cheek, smiling fakely before she continued, “How was the nurse’s visit, though?”

“We don’t have the time to talk about that.” Maggie scoffs, “If that creature is on the loose, there’s no doubt that Briar Rose is trying to go after it. Let’s check these students over as quickly as possible, then we can form a search party.”

“Damn, I love a woman in charge. Don’t you, Tobias?” Michelle offers a hand to the boy still taking up space on the ground. Begrudgingly, Tobias accepts but doesn’t offer Michelle a reply.

With the three of them, they set to work checking over the students for any signs of unwanted supernatural energy.

Just as Maggie is approaching the fourth student in the row, she feels a presence over her. She looks up, noting Briar Rose standing above her. The immediate sight of her sister has her jumping a little bit, but she quickly gets over it, standing up fully. “Briar Rose!” Maggie clicks her teeth, “Good of you to—is something wrong?” Maggie tilts her head up at her sister. Usually Briar Rose would’ve had a quip or something to say at the very least, but standing in front of her now, her sister looked...well, dead.

“Oh, good. Breezy has joined the party again. Took y’ long enough. Oh, an’ also, I’d like t’ thank ya fer the lies ya told me.” Michelle wags her finger at Briar Rose, “Creature goes after people with high spiritual energy...harhar, what a load of crap. I got chased fer like twenty minutes. I mean...maybe more! This is a liminal space, we don’t know time!”

Maggie waves her hand back at Michelle, trying to get her to stop talking, but Michelle continues, walking up to Briar Rose and poking her in the arm. “Michelle...stop.” Maggie grits out, “Something’s wrong.”  She looked nervously between the two, putting an arm out in front of Michelle to keep her a bit away from her sister.

“Yeah, fer sure something’s wrong!” Michelle agrees, “Briar Rose Georgette has not responded to me with the apology that I so rightfully deserve. Where’s that best friend apology?”

The only noise that leaves Briar Rose’s mouth is a guttural, almost primal grunt as she pulls back her fist. Maggie reacts first, pushing both herself and Michelle out of the way of Briar Rose’s punch, which slams against the ground, creating a decent sized crater in the tiled floor. “And now she’s destroying school property! Briar Rose, I expected better of you. I’m literally telling your parents at dinner tonight.”

“Can you stop with the jokes for two seconds?” Tobias shouts at Michelle, “This is actually kind of serious, or did you just not see Briar Rose attack her own sister? Use your eyes and look at that freakin’ crater she just formed in the ground!”

It didn’t take Briar Rose long to recover from the hit that didn’t land as she grunted and groaned in obvious internal anguish.  Her dull eyes trailed over the three of them, and she took a step forward, to which Maggie held up her hand as if to stop her. Briar Rose seemed to pause for all of a second before she slammed her hand down again, narrowly missing Maggie who had been pulled out of the way of Briar Rose’s war path.  She stumbled against the floor, scrambling back away from her deranged sister and swallowed the lump that formed in her throat.

“Y’know, Briar.” Michelle carts Maggie over to where Tobias stands, unharmed, “Josh is the superficial type. He’s not gonna like those scars.”

“Michelle! Will you shut up! You’re not helping!” Tobias snaps, glaring at the girl.

“Did y’all hear sum’n? Cause I know I just did _not_ hear no Tobias Theodore Winters tell me to shut up.” Michelle loudly proclaims, “Cause if’n he did, he can get a whole free trial of the hands Michelle Matsuura has to give. These hands are T for Tobias.”

“I’m not afraid of you!” Tobias points at her, “Bring it, then!”

Maggie turns her hard gaze on the two of them, eyes devoid of any tolerance for the immaturity that the two were showing at the moment. “How about you _both_ shut up and stop acting like this.  We have no time for these games and this _Briar Rose_ doesn’t seem like she wants to wait for you two to get your act together.”  She kept her distance from the tall girl, watching every twitch of each limb for any signs of her next move.  Michelle sighed, placing her hands on her hips roughly before throwing her hands up into the air in frustration.

“Well, what the hell do you suppose we do?  I dun kno’ if you kno’ this, but Briar Rose is a helluva lot stronger than we are and I kind of like my face, ya kno?”

“Try calling for her spirit!” Tobias suggests, “That usually helps snap a person out of a trance.”

“That has never worked, and you know it.” Maggie butts in, “Briar Rose hasn’t responded to any of our calls to her, there’s no possible way that Ana will be able to make an appearance. Without a conscious user, the spirit cannot be called.”  Briar Rose screeches, slamming her body against the locker and clambers towards them once more.

The group immediately splits up as Briar Rose brings down another punch to their area, however, Tobias is the last to move, allowing Briar Rose to grab the back of his shirt and fling him further down the hall.

With Tobias gone, Briar Rose sets her sights on the remaining two. She breathes out, a strange billowing black smoke leaving her mouth as she does so. “Okay, so...Briar Rose has smoke coming out her mouth. Cool, amazing. Wonderful. Just a normal Tuesday. Maggie, what do we do?”

“You’re asking me?” Maggie squeaks out, tripping over the bodies of students in an attempt to distance herself from Briar Rose. “I’m not the combat one.”

“Well, I’m the shield girl and Bri is the tank. You’re the smart one and Tobias is the punching bag. We all have our ro--fuck!” Michelle ducks as a body comes flying at her. “Maggie! She’s throwing people and if you don’t do something, I’m gonna be next!”

“Okay! I’m trying to think!” It was easy to say, but it wasn’t the easiest thing to do at the moment.  The only thing she could think about was how Tobias has been thrown down the hall, Briar Rose was throwing people at them, and Michelle was putting immense pressure on her to think of some spectacular plan.  Briar Rose threw another student, narrowly missing Maggie as she roughly jumped out of the way and skidded to the floor. 

“First of all,” she started, voice shaky as she pulled one student out of Briar Rose’s line of fire, “Briar Rose, I know you’re probably not going to listen, but please stop throwing these people.  You’ll _hurt_ them, and I know you don’t like hurting people.” Michelle realized that the girl was stalling for time and quickly joined in on distracting Briar Rose, attempting to give Maggie extra time to formulate a plan.

“Y-Yeah! You totes hate hurtin’ people. It’s like...your least fave thing to do. And y’know what? Josh--hey, remember him! Remember Josh? Josh wouldn’t like that either.” Michelle’s voice is shaky as she claps her hands, trying to gather Briar Rose’s attention. “I mean, we can forgive you for like, killing Tobias. But, you gotta stop throwing these kids around.”

Briar Rose drops the two bodies she had in her hands, making both Michelle and Maggie wince as she approaches Michelle, who stumbles back into the locker. Maggie, watching from across the hall as her brain worked a mile a minute to sift through the mental files for anything she can think of that could help.

First, she had to figure out why Briar Rose was acting like this.  It reminded her of the student from that morning; the erratic behavior, the manic look in her eyes, and the lack of reasoning that could get through to her.  It was as if she was going on pure animal instinct. She had a vague feeling it had something to do with what was making the teacher act up in the hallway earlier, however, there was no way to truly understand this strange occurrence. The energy coming from Briar Rose was Briar Rose’s energy alone. How could she--

“Earth to M-Maggie! Stop ya brain for a second an’ just do before my face is gonna need a new-do,” Michelle finds a way to clip Briar Rose’s legs out from under her with a move she once saw in a video game she played, but unfortunately, there was no time for her to be overly excited about how it worked.  She barrel rolled away from the girl, putting distance between the two again and taking a deep breath.

“I’m trying, but this isn’t as easy as it looks, you know!” Maggie snaps, glaring at Michelle.

“I know, it’s very easy for us idiots but you brainiacs take some time, but right now, _we don’t have no time!_ ” Michelle yells back, “Briar is going to kill us all right now if we do nothin’!”

“Okay! Okay! Um...” Maggie’s eyes darted around the hallway, “Aconite!” The man materializes at the mention of his name, appearing in a cloud of unwanted sparkles.

“Is it dinner time alread--” Aconite snatches Maggie, narrowly dodging out of the way of another body-throwing onslaught. “Who pissed off your sister?”

“Nobody!” Maggie answers, “There’s something wrong with her, but we aren’t sure what it is. She threw Tobias down the hallway and she’s been throwing the bodies of students for a while now.”

“...Right...well, have you tried turning her off and on again?” Aconite asks, a serious look on his face. Maggie stares at him for a moment, unbelieving of what he just said. “Oh, c’mon, my dear, it was just a joke.”

“We’re going to die if we don’t stop her!” Maggie hollers, cheeks flaming in indignation, “And you’re making computer jokes!”

“I’m sorry!” Aconite laughs, “But it’s rather hilarious. You haven’t noticed it? It’s pretty much the first thing I saw when I looked at her.”

“What haven’t I noticed?” Maggie turns her gaze towards Briar Rose who is still throwing bodies at Michelle, almost having completely forgotten about Maggie.  She hadn’t had time to see much of anything with Briar Rose throwing things, punching things, and Michelle rushing her mental processing. Briar Rose rears back again to toss another student when Maggie sees it, covered in murky energy.. “There’s something...on her neck.”  She comments in breathless surprise.

“Bingo.” Aconite taps Maggie’s nose. “I thought you were the observant one. Although, I’ve never seen anything like that. And for it to affect Briar Rose to this extent...this must be something we’ve never encountered. Usually, she’s not the type to get possessed.”

“How am I supposed to take it off?” Maggie questions loudly, “If I get too close, she might grab me and if I just snatch it off, I fear I may harm her.” Aconite taps his chin, a thoughtful frown on his face before he snaps his fingers.

“Eat your tablet and we’ll think of something.” Aconite places his hand on Maggie’s shoulder. Maggie grunts, clearly not in favor of this, but pulls out the small pill case in her pocket.  The girl wasn’t doing this because she liked it, but for her sister, even though being an only child did sound interesting. She shakes out one of the oval shaped candies and pops it in her mouth. 

With the slight boost, Maggie draws a symbol in the air while Aconite flicks the back of her bun. A moment passes before a pale purple flame ignites above her head, burning fiercely bright before dulling into a small natural glowing, hue. Maggie then looks to Aconite, who has his eyes glued on Briar Rose’s neck while she throws students, and kicks and punches in Michelle’s general direction.  It was only slightly humorous to think of the girl as a toddler throwing a tantrum with her toys.

“It doesn’t look to be penetrative.” Aconite finally speaks, tearing his gaze away from the rampaging Briar Rose and offering the girl words of comfort. “I think in your semi-ascended form, you should be able to pull it off of her without causing her any harm.”

“A-Are you su-su-s-sure?” Maggie’s voice quivered as she took a step back away from her rampaging sister.  “She...She’ll -b-be-be alright?” She turned a hopeful, trusting gaze towards Aconite who in turn gave her a soft look.

“I’m positive.” Aconite nods firmly, placing a hand against her shoulders and pushing her back in the right direction. “Go on, then.  I’ll be right here if you need me.”

“You’re pretty much the worst mentor ever.” Maggie grunts out, looking over at Aconite before she trains her gaze on Briar Rose, “You gave me no instructions.”

“Let life be your teacher or something like that.” Aconite waves his hand carelessly. “Go on, go play with your sister.” Maggie sighs loudly, mumbling under her breath about how she wasn’t going to be playing with Briar Rose.

Pulling out her gun, Maggie loads one of the magazines into her gun, then shoots. She jumps through the portal, her intent on landing on Briar Rose, however, the definite thud and pain of landing on tiled floor tells her she is decidedly nowhere near Briar Rose, and looking up tells her that she is right.  She pushes herself up, now looking at the back of Briar Rose. “Okay...take two.” Maggie shoots another bullet, hoping through the portal and hoping to land on her target this time.

The overexaggerated grunting beneath her effectively lets her know that she didn’t land on Briar Rose this time either. “We all know I love beautiful women sitting on top of me.” Michelle’s voice sounds ethereal, and glancing back at her, Maggie notes that Michelle has ascended as well. Above them both is a cracking shield, reinforced with words spelled out in katakana, as well as Briar Rose beating onto it with her bare hands. “But right now, it’s making my concentration just a little bit harder.”

Maggie scoffs, shooting her gun just behind Michelle’s head and scrambling into it. A little bit wonky, Maggie manages to land on Briar Rose’s back, although before she can truly process it, Briar Rose’s arms are gripping onto Maggie and she tossed her down the hall, much in the same fashion as she did with Tobias.

A strangled squeak turned scream that leaves Maggie’s throat is cut off by Aconite grabbing Maggie out of the air, safe out of harm's way. In that small pause, Michelle is able to scramble away from Briar Rose and create another shield, this time protecting herself and the few students near her.

“That was truly pitiful. I almost felt bad sending you out there, but you need to have some hands-on learning time on occasion, don’t you think?” Aconite sets Maggie down, “This concludes that part of the fight. Now, we’ll move on. I’ll hold Briar Rose down, and you have to pull that thing off of her, alright?”

Maggie breathes out, a heavy pant pouring out of her mouth as she nods at Aconite, not having the energy to quip back at him for his misguided, impromptu _fighting 101 lesson._   Within seconds of finishing the one-sided conversation, Aconite has crossed the small distance to where Briar Rose stands and begins matching her blow for blow. One slip up on Briar Rose’s part has her skidding and sliding, falling back and crashing into an already banged up locker.  She pushes herself back up, trying to regain her balance and completely get back up on her feet. 

Aconite takes advantage of this, using her shaky balance to flip her over and slam her onto the ground. Once Briar Rose hit the cracked, labored tile, Maggie shoots her portal, running through and slamming into Briar Rose. “You get it when it really counts.” Aconite winks at her, casually pinning the thrashing girl. Maggie holds up a hand, coating it in her dull purple reiatsu.

Slowly, Maggie reaches her hand out towards Briar Rose’s neck, trying to keep her shaking hand steady. Briar Rose snarls and growls at her, once again thrashing around in Aconite’s grip.  She quickly drew her hand away, holding it to her chest, throwing Aconite a frantic look. “You can just rip it off, dear. It’ll be like a bandaid. She’ll be fine.”

Still a little afraid, Maggie stares at the black mass attached to Briar Rose’s neck. The amorphous blob jiggles and moves while staying completely attached to Briar Rose and the girl was afraid that when she pulled it off, that it would somehow try to attach itself to her as a trade-off. _Stop being a coward, Briar Rose needs you._ Her thoughts were all over the place, but the only thing that was important at the moment was getting the old Briar Rose back. Maggie grits her teeth before slowly bringing her hand towards it, to which it shies away, almost as if a living thing. Briar Rose’s thrashing seems to get far more violent the closer Maggie’s hand comes to the black mass. She couldn’t wait any longer, if she did, who knew what might happen.

In one quick motion, Maggie seizes the black blob in her hand and tosses it down the hallway. It smacks against Michelle’s newly erected shield and slides down. From where they’re sat, they can hear Michelle loudly complaining about the supernatural alien juice sliding down her shield. 

Aconite relinquishes his hold on Briar Rose, who has already gone limp in his grip and Maggie sits back on top of her, losing every nerve she had in her body at that moment.  She wasn’t sure how Briar Rose and Ricky did this all the time, because the feeling to her wasn’t a satisfying one. Nerves still on end, with a jittering hand, she pushed a section of hair out of Briar Rose’s face, pleased to see that the look of pure anguish and rage was gone from her features.

The quiet post-battle tranquility doesn’t last long for either of them, as Aconite stands to go inspect the blob. Maggie takes a moment to sit before she can stand, though none are prepared for the tight feeling of foreign reiatsu entering all of their senses. “Oh shit, he’s back.” Michelle loudly informs, taking a step back until she’s stumbled back onto her butt. A mere few feet away from her was the creature she’d run away from before. 

The creature stares at her. Aconite freezes where he is and Maggie can barely find it in herself to turn around to see the creature. Before any can react, the creature shoots it’s long tongue out, swiping at the blob as it tries to slither away. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the creature was gone, leaving hardly anything to trace it within its wake.

“Okay, I give up.” Michelle tosses her hands up. “This is _not_ how the first Tuesday back is supposed to go.”

“The first Tuesday back hasn’t gone well since y’all were in third grade, so I don’t know what yer expectin’.” Aconite comments. “Every year there’s a whole ‘nother problem...I just wanna know why yer so surprised.”

“Because usually...Oh, I don’t know, I don’t have to fight because Briar does it! But this time! Me and Maggie are fighting like we know how to do that and Briar may have killed Tobias and she herself is almost dead too!” Michelle tosses her hand out, her ascension form fading out as she approaches them. "So are we gonna talk about this, or are we just going to...I don't know, pretend like Briar Rose attacking us is _just_ _Tuesday_ _things_ and these children aren't all going to be in the hospital tomorrow because of her. I mean, there's a _lot_ of unanswered questions here. Like what the hell was that creature and what the hell was that blob thing. There's questions and Maggie hasnt' been giving any answers!"

“...I see your point.” Aconite nods, “But this is pretty much one of your better Tuesdays, even if your sister and your best friend has been possessed by some weird blobby thing...which was then eaten by another unidentifiable creature and caused a lot more collateral damage because of it...At least it’s only Briar Rose we need to worry about, but you'll have to refresh my memory. _Who_ is Tobias again?”

“I’ll call headquarters...I suppose we will be going home, after all.”  Maggie rolls her eyes at the two, looking around at the damage that they had yet again caused with a tired sigh. This was going to take a hell of a lot of documentation and explaining, and a good chunk of their paychecks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, y'all... This was a SUPER long chapter. We put a lot of work into this one. See you guys next time!!


	5. Mission IV: You can't use a coupon on Clearance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mission Notes
> 
> -Part of the Mystery Gang gathers to crack the case of the strange possession. And by part, we all know that just means Maggie.  
> -The Great Rick makes his appear again after a few chapters of absence.  
> -Meetings with the Big Man can be scary, & sometimes things break.  
> -The cult leader finally has finally been identified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back & Better than ever, these sausage wraps ain't the only thing u gon see twice. It's yo girls fleurisms, lets get it

* * *

 

_ August 25, 2018 _

_ 11:30:05  AM  _

**_HQ,_** **_Computer Lab_**

_ New Orleans, Louisiana _

* * *

The constant clicking of the mouse in the mostly silent room was accompanied by the occasional sigh of boredom and the ever-present scratching of a pencil moving back and forth against a small notepad. Michelle and Maggie sat side by side, or Maggie sat, while Michelle leaned heavily on the chair, her feet propped up on the table. Michelle popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth, scrolling through her dry Instagram feed before closing the app and releasing a dramatic sigh.

Meant to grab Maggie’s attention, the studious girl paid her no mind, having long since given up on telling Michelle to mind herself in favor of paying more attention to the screen.  Lethargically, Michelle watched the same events stutter by slowly on the screen, trying to see what the girl beside her was trying to. After a moment, Michelle gave up and humored herself by counting the tiles on the ceiling; a skill she was a professional at since she had more than enough practice in school. 

For what seems like the tenth time, Maggie replayed the video, pausing every few seconds to record her sister’s odd walking pattern and strange hand movements.  Reminiscent of events from The Twilight Zone, Briar Rose moved across the screen in black and white, slamming objects and throwing people. Gaze drifting, and eyes squinted in her round glasses, she focused on a strange, almost invisible blob-like creature on Briar Rose’s neck.

“You’ve watched that video, what,” Michelle leans forward, her sneakers slapping against the ground with a hard smack. She swishes the mouse from side to side on the computer next to Maggie’s, and clicks on the internet icon the moment the screen allows her to. “About...maybe twelve times?”

“Ten and a half,” Maggie responds curtly. “I don’t want to miss anything...and you could help me, you know. You asked to come with me, anyway.”

“Yeah, because I was bored and Briar can barely text when she can use both her hands, let alone just one. It’s hard having a best friend who texts like a mom.” Michelle rolls her eyes, typing in a website for video games, “Ooh, Princess Dress Up. This one’s new,” she clicked on the game, immediately looking at all of the clothes that were at her disposal.  “Haven’t you seen enough of that video?” Michelle added as an afterthought.

“Just a few more times and I think I’ll have encompassed every single corner of these videos,” Maggie informs her with a tired sigh. Stretching, she pulls her hair from its tight bun, weaving a hand through her curly locks. Leaving it down for a moment, Maggie reaches over to sip at her drink, before tying her hair up once more and leaning forward to stare at the screen. 

“You shouldn’t sit so close to the screen, Maglet. And you shouldn’t be playing Princess Pocky Dress Up on these computers. Don’t you know they check these accounts?” Ricky rests heavily on Michelle’s head. Below him, Maya patters across the floor, jumping up onto Maggie’s lap.

“Good thing I’m using your numbers.” Michelle grins, “You’re all dumb for posting them in the G-C like that.” Ricky pulls on Michelle’s hair, and while she stops playing the game, she doesn’t close it, allowing the upbeat and quirky music to play lowly through the speakers.

Maggie continues clicking on her own computer, the only acknowledgment of their presence that can be found from her is the adjusting of her position to accommodate Maya. 

“You both come here, to the base, but you don’t even come see me. Or!” Ricky stands fully, leaning on his crutch. “Or! Bring me food! Don’t you know ya boi is starvin’ on this diet of saltines and soup?”

“It’s what you deserve.” Michelle responds, “We had other things to worry about, so I’m sorry if we didn’t come see Ricky the Great after he got his ass whooped.”

“Yeah, instead of bringing me food and flowers, you brought me a bruised Briar Rose and you didn’t even stay long enough to say hello!”

“To be fair, Michelle’s mom kicked us out.” Maggie shrugs, pulls away from the computer and letting a large breath past between her lips.  Taking her glasses off, she rubbed her tired eyes, before glancing over at the other two briefly. “I finished, so have a look at this.”

Ricky and Michelle turn their attention towards the screen, and while Michelle is calm as she watches it, Ricky waits in confusion, until he sees Maggie get attacked by an unassuming boy. The audio from the video is very low, but even so, Ricky can make out Briar Rose’s yelling. “Is this what happened while I wasn’t at school? For one day? My darling little Maggie gets attacked on the first day back?”

“Yes, but this isn’t about me right now.  Curb your anger for a moment, and direct your attention toward what’s important.” Maggie touches her pencil to the screen. “Look, in both videos, Briar Rose’s neck and this boy’s neck are surrounded by a translucent blob-like gel substance. It’s hard to see it, but even in black and white, it is still clearly visible.”

“Okay, so what’s that? And why does it matter? I’m ‘boutta kick some serious ass, no cap.” Ricky touches his fist to the table. “Nobody puts hands on  _ my _ baby cousin and gets away with it!”

“Calm down, He-Man, hero of the people.” Michelle pats Ricky’s arm, “The blob thing is what caused him to break down and try to give Maggie a new kink. He probably already feels pretty shit because of being possessed and all. You know what that’s like first hand, or did you forget the possession problem of 2013?”

Ricky shivers, clearly not liking the memory, “Don’t be remind to me. That was horrible. But even still, that ass is grass and I’m gonna mow it. Then put down some fertilizer, watch it grow and mow it again!”

“Your metaphors get too long at the best and worst of times, Ricky.” Maggie sighs, “Though it is very odd that it targeted this boy, and soon afterward, Briar.”

“Maybe it likes people who have strong spiritual energy?” Michelle taps her fingers on the table, “Bri’s got enough to power three cities and ten cars and that’s just before ascending.”

“Overdramatizing her power,” Maggie cuts in, “But no, it doesn’t make sense, as this boy has no energy to speak of. As you both know, the sector tests all people in the vicinity each month. The machine has a 99.9% accuracy. And we ourselves are also good detectors.”

“With your high sensitivity to energies, not a soul can get past us.” Ricky agrees, “So then...why did it go after Briar Rose and the boy specifically?”

“Well, maybe it has to do with the fear thing?” Michelle taps her chin, “Remember Bri said the boy mentioned that everyone was lookin’ like whole ass huge spiders. And other kids were talkin’ about their worst fears actualizing in front of them. Maybe that’s it?”

“If that were true, wouldn’t it go after you too, Michelle? What are you afraid of?” Ricky asks her.

Michelle shrugs, “Not much. I mean, I have a heavy dislike for clowns, but they don’t keep me up at night and I’ve been known to watch a circus act every now and then. Nothing that would have me freaking out and runnin’ for the hills or whatevalikedat.”

“Well if that’s true, then...” Ricky sits down on Michelle’s lap, much to the girl’s protest, “Then I guess it’s cause Briar was more of a  _ kurczak _ than Michelle is so that’s why it went after her insteada Mitch.” 

“While that could be the case,” Maggie finds her gaze moving to the video, watching as Briar Rose tears through the hallway, “We have no way of knowing for sure because right afterward, the specimen was eaten by the creature we both battled.”

The group lapses into a small silence, pondering over Maggie’s words. The only sound heard between the three of them is their breathing and cheery music of the Michelle’s game. “...What’s a kurczak?” Michelle asks, breaking the slight silence.

“Huh? Uh, chicken.” Ricky answers, “I’m like stuck in a partial polish brain.”

“So, you couldn’t have just said chicken. We all speak more than one language here, you know. You ain’t special.” Michelle rolls her eyes.

“Banter aside,” Maggie cuts in, “Without the specimen, there is no way to tell what creature it is, or where it came from...let alone how the boy contracted it.”

“Maybe he was unprotected.” Michelle snickers, “He should’ve gotten tested again. The other students’ were all admitted to the hospital, weren’t they?”

“With that amount of students, it was hard for the school to cover it up, so of course they were all admitted to the hospital. They’re just lucky that the school isn’t being shut down. Then again, this is America, there’s no way it would be. I read their charts and reports, and also the few news articles. They’re equating it to some new underground drug, but all the stories had one thing in common...” 

“The fear bit?” Ricky guessed. Maggie nodded, “So then—”

* * *

 

_ Team Lucidum, please report to debriefing room twelve. Team Lucidum, please report to debriefing room twelve. _

* * *

 

“Ugh,” Michelle groaned, closing her game tab, “Why are  _ we _ always getting debriefed? It feels like we’re star pupils because of all the missions, but then we get yelled at.”

“It’s probably because no matter what we do, we cause the most damage.” Ricky chuckles. “With just Briar Rose alone, she’s enough to wreck a city. Add the rest of us in, and we’re destroying a county.”

“I wonder if they’re going to be wheeling in the destroyer of hallways and Tobias.” Maggie comments aloud, an image of Briar Rose wheeling down the hallway at speeds she shouldn’t be and Tobias being attached to her chair by usage of a rope floating through her mind. “I really hope they’re having someone accompany them.”

“Doubtful.” Michelle says, “You know how Breezy is. Annoying head assery is expected from her.”

“Let’s not waste any more time. I’m sure the Commander is impatiently waiting for us.”

* * *

_  
August 25, 2018 _

_ 12:30:30  PM  _

**_HQ, Debriefing Room 12_ **

_ New Orleans, Louisiana _

* * *

Although the trio were no longer in the computer lab, not much has changed about their positions. Maggie, still exhausted from her time staring at a screen, sat with her legs crossed underneath her, head laid down against the table.  Michelle reclaimed her usual nonchalant posture and leaned back heavily in the comfortable meeting room chair, while Ricky sat down rather normally. He leaned his crutch against the table as he righted himself in the seat and Maya transformed into her human form, sitting in the seat next to Ricky.

Michelle checks the time once more on her phone, frowning at how slowly the time was ticking by. The main door slides open automatically, prompting Michelle and Ricky to look up. Maggie, having sensed the presence long before it appeared in front of the door doesn’t bother looking up. “Man!” Briar Rose whines loudly, wheeling herself into the room, “I’ve had it with staring at these dumb steel walls. Is there no end to my suffering? No solace for my pain?”

Ana walks in behind her and the last to make an appearance is Tobias, who wheels in slowly behind him. Briar Rose wheels her chairs towards Michelle, nestling in between her and Ricky. “What did I miss at school? Did Josh ask about me? Did you tell him something cool?”

“Nah, Josh didn’t ask about you, but Mr. Brennan and Melinda did.” Michelle slurped on the can of soda she’d gotten from the vending machine. “Who cares about Josh anyway? Especially when you’ve got all those missing assignments that me, your diligent best friend, collected for you. Your best friend. The friend that’s the best one you have.”

“I do!” Briar Rose yelped at the same time that Ricky commented a similar sentence. “And just name your price already! Honestly, missing school for even a day is complete poo! Homework pilin’ up, someone prolly had a whole ass baby...”

“You the one who got all down bad by getting possessed,” Michelle replied, passing her soda over to Briar Rose. “And why is Tobias wheeling himself so far away?” Michelle finished, barely able to keep the laugh of amusement out of her voice.

“There’s no possible way that I’m going to sit next to Briar Rose,” Tobias answered, glowering at Briar Rose, who looked innocent. Tobias couldn’t believe she had the gall to put on a face like that. “Statistically, there is a 75% higher chance of injury if I am anywhere closer to her than I am now.”

“So, what’s the statistics like for you being over there?” Ricky asks, not entirely interested in Tobias’ answer.

“It’s drastically gone down to around 35%.” Tobias replies, “I can’t wait until I’m out of this wheelchair. My ability to be without injury will increase dramatically.”

“Sometimes getting that ass beat is what’s best. Come sit next to Bri, huh, Tobias?” Michelle grinned, “She can take you to heaven, for real this time. Not that weird purgatorial library thing you like to visit in your free time.”

Before Tobias can sputter out an angry response, the door opens once again, this time showcasing the Commander, who does not look up at any of them. His gaze is instead glued to the tablet in his hand. “Good afternoon, agen—ouch!” The Commander slams into the table, pushing it forward. He catches himself, throwing one hand onto the glass of the table and flinging the tablet across the table. 

Ana manages to snatch the tablet out of the air before it can smash against the wall, and while the tablet is safe, the same can’t be said for the table. Removing his hand, the Commander gently shakes it, frowning as he stares down at the handprint with spider cracks snaking its way through the glass.  His face changed from its usual solemn expression to a quick, almost comical grimace before it disappeared again. It was like he knew what one of his agents were going to say before she spoke up coyly, brow raised and lips pulled into a small, humorous lilt.

“Science Director F is not going to be happy when she finds out, because we all know she will, that you’ve destroyed yet  _ another _ one of her debriefing tables.” Maggie chimed in, her gaze finally moving from her paper and pad to the newcomer.

“And another one,” Michelle struggles to keep in her laughter at the cheesy joke she made, imitating the meme community's favorite DJ.

The Commander clears his throat, “I will handle the matter myself. Right now, I’m going to get straight to the point. Formalities seem to be lost on the lot of you, so let’s just skip them.”

“Is this about the school incident, because I  _ swear _ —” Briar Rose stops speaking when the Commander holds up a hand.

“It is about the school incident, and about the two prior to the school incident.” He affirms, “I’ll say this plainly: you’re all much too reckless. Briar Rose, you’ve had your captain’s position for one whole year now, and you’ve been leading this team for six months. You were given the captaincy and the team because you showed your capability, however, in the last six months, your squadron has shown a recklessness that none of you possessed in your time as regular agents.”

“I think that’s just due to—”

“I’m not finished.” The Commander frowned, interrupting her firmly, “Now, I’m not saying that any mission is without damage, but many of your missions end up causing more than severe damage on several properties. While I will note that human civilians and spirits are spared during your teams defilement of public properties and your own well-being...I have to say that if you and your team do not shape up soon... I will be taking action.”

“Taking action, Commander?” Maggie repeats, “What sort of action?” Briar Rose looked to Michelle, then to Maggie and finally, her gaze landed on Ricky. The three all traded looks with her, showing they weren’t exactly sure what to make of his words. Tobias, however, seemed just as disinterested as ever.

“If your impulsive actions do not cease, or at least lessen, Briar Rose will be removed from her captaincy, and while I will not disband your team, you will be getting a more experienced leader to head your operations.” The Commander concludes, looking pointedly at Briar Rose before his gaze sweeps across the room.

“What!” Briar Rose is the first to speak, nearly launching herself out of the wheelchair. Had it not been for Michelle’s hand on the handlebars, expecting this sort of outburst, the chair would’ve toppled over. “We aren’t that reckless! And our success rate is much higher than any other squad formed during our time!”

“While this is true,” The Commander nods, “The other squads don’t have a wing in the infirmary dedicated just to them.”

“It’s not—It’s not really a wing, Commander F... It’s more like...A couple of rooms? I mean... _ sure _ , they know us by name and everything...and I  _ do _ have a favorite bed there, but...okay this doesn’t sound like the argument I thought it was gonna be so I’mma stop.” Ricky sinks into his chair.

“Exactly. Now if you don’t want Captain Leon to head your squad, I suggest you all take a moment to reflect on your actions. Preferably while retaking your academy training courses.”

A chorus of groans come from the three elder team members, while Maggie frowns. She somewhat expected something like this to happen. “Do we all have to retake the courses?” Tobias raises his hand, “Technically, I’m a victim in this...and I’m not officially apart of this team...”

“Ah, that’s what I also wanted to inform you of.” The Commander snaps his fingers, “Agent Winters, you’re officially a member of Team Lucidum. You were recommended by your elder brother and approved by the team placement board just yesterday. Congratulations...Welcome aboard, and have fun in your classes. You will be contacted once the classes are to take place.”

“Commander,” Ana speaks up, “While I know this isn’t a topic for our discussion, I’m still rather curious: what are you planning to do about the creature that we’ve dealt with, what, three times now? All of us here have encountered this creature; Ricky initially, Briar Rose and Maggie, and at the school once again...Who do you plan to have dispatched to take care of it?”  They group of teens looked at the commander expectantly, all of them agreeing that something had to be done about this creature.

“We’ve gotten photos of the creature from the school incident, which allowed us to finally give a name to the creature. D-Does the table still work?” The Commander asks, tapping at the table. Maggie sighs, sliding her finger across the table and bringing up the holographic menu.  It seemed like she had to do this more often than not and he still hadn’t figured out how to fully use the technology they had around them. 

“Thank you, agent.” The Commander takes a moment to pull up the photos taken from the school’s camera, then pulls up a side by side model of the creature. “Having finally seen it in detail, I was able to identify the creature as one called a ‘Hollow’.”

“A Hollow?” Maggie echoes, staring at the 3D model. She’d never seen or heard of such a creature, and her knowledge of such things were vast. As everyone looked to Maggie, she shrugged, shaking her head and writing in the new name the creature had been given beside the grotesque image she had sketched in her notebook.

“Even a creature Maglet doesn’t know? This must be some next-level type nonsense.” Ricky whistles. “What can you tell us about it, Commander? If there’s anything to tell.”

“There’s a reason even Agent Aneri is not aware of the creature.” The Commander tells them, “It’s native of Japan—meaning that a hollow has no business being somewhere such as this. Born and bred in Japan, hollows are made up of human souls, who have overstayed their welcome in the world of the living.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, though,” Briar Rose speaks up, “‘Cause we got spirits all over d’place jus’ chillin’ and ain’t none of those turn into hollows.”

“An odd phenomenon, yes, but there is something about that area that allows Hollows to be created and thrive.” The Commander adds in, “Holy tools, such as swords and other objects must be used to guide the creatures onto their next lives.”

The group sits quietly for a moment, alternating between staring at the 3D model and looking at the Commander. Finally, Briar Rose breaks the silence by slamming her hand, much more gently than the Commander, onto the table and effectively shutting off the simulation. “Okay, so now that we know what we’re up against an’ how t’ bring ‘em down...how about we go do it? We’re Holy Tools. Used by the Gods and Goddesses of the Other Realm, surely we should be able to—”

“Denied, Captain.” The Commander cuts in, “We cannot do that.”

“And, why not?” Maggie pauses in her writing, looking up incredulously for the first time during the meeting. “I mean, I agree, Briar Rose’s words and methods are...crude at best, however, surely now that we are aware of what the creature is, and how to handle it...we can most definitely take care of the matter ourselves.” Maggie reiterates for her sister, continuing her notes in her journal, finding the entire situation foolish. “We are, ourselves, something akin to Holy Tools, as Briar has said.”

“It’s not as simple as that.” The Commander stands firm, “ _ Different soul societies have different rules _ , or do you not remember this from your teachings? Certain protocols and rules must be followed. Due to their society's rules, if a hollow ends up in any territory that isn’t Japan, we cannot deal with it ourselves—only detain it and wait for further instructions from their societies professionals.”

“Okay, but the rules of our Society states that any creature ending up on our territory must be dealt with according to our rules.” Briar Rose recites, “It’s the reason we’re able to even keep and use dragons in the midwest!”

“I am aware of our rules, Captain. However, the Japanese branch’s rule for hollows trumps even that one.” Maggie frowned, pen scratching across the paper as she adds all of this new information on another page. Thinking about it, she didn’t know much about the Japanese Soul Society.  It was a branch that even in their academy the information was only brushed over. The most they knew about them is that they existed. In big, bold letters, she wrote **S E C R E T I V E ?** , making assumptions based off of the information they were learning today.

“Will this hollow affect the people living here? We have plenty of Japanese people who live and work within our branch. Is becoming a hollow contagious, or is it extremely native of Japan?” Maggie asks, “If it becomes a threat to our population, I see no reason why we should not be able to exterminate it ourselves.”

“Becoming a hollow, as far as we know, is not contagious.” The Commander reassures them.

“Yeah, Mags. Didn’t Commander say that it only affects, like, dead people? As far as I’m concerned, I’m alive and I’m not dead. And the majority of everyone workin’ for the sectors is alive too.” Michelle speaks up, “But if I become a hollow, y’all have explicit permission to just drag my ass to hell right then. No way I’m staying alive and doing any of what that guy is doing.”

“Michelle is correct,” The Commander agrees, “Hollows are spirits turned into these creatures. Not living humans. One must have died first to even have a chance of becoming a hollow. The reason for our inability to exterminate them, as you said, is due to their key balance in the Japanese Branch. While we do, on occasion keep Dragons here, we send a majority of them back to England. The same goes for creatures from other branches.”

“They should’ve kept closer range on their creatures, then.” Maggie crosses her arms, “It’s destroying our ecosystem by eating creatures that reside here! Surely that is cause enough to do something.”

“It is, and we are working on detainment plans. Since your squad has dealt with it first-hand multiple times, you will be allowed to participate in the capture of the hollow.”

“Okay, so, we know we can’t kill it. But,” Briar Rose raises her hand, “Hypothetically... if we punch it...will it spit up the spirit’s it’s eaten?”

“Briar, I don’t think it’s like a mother bird.” Ricky comments, “I think once it eats it, the spirits just become apart of its power.”

“I mean, everybody poops...” Briar Rose shrugs, “Unless they don’t poop in Japan’s Branch.”

“I don’t want to have this conversation, so let’s have another one: Commander, will you be speaking with the other Sector leaders about this?” Maggie speaks up.

“I will. I’m scheduled to meet with them sometime in the coming week.” The Commander informs her. “This is all the information I have for you today. Please, all of you, get some rest. You won’t be scheduled for another mission until your team is completely healed.”

With that said, the Commander salutes the group, using his trademarked line before he exits the room, leaving the group to ponder over the conversation. 

The group looked at each other, even Tobias, who was still shocked about his induction into the team, and one thing was clear to them all: they would need to formulate a plan themselves, while not under the watchful eye of the base’s occupants.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "dIfFeReNt SoUl SoCiEtIeS hAvE DiFfErEnT rUlEs"


	6. Mission V: Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mission Notes
> 
> -Never leave Ricky and Michelle to their own devices, something is bound to break.  
> -Do NOT anger Nora-Lee, head of Secretarial Staff.  
> -Briar Rose is weird, and Maggie could care less about most things.  
> -Please eat your vegetables.  
> -Commander Fleur is sassy.  
> -Ichigo Clearly Has Had Enough, and yet he continues to take more.  
> -Urahara can't spell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IN-Tro-Ducing..... the MAIN CAST of BLEACH !!! Finally, they've arrived.

* * *

 

Friday,

September 21st, 2018

4:45:46 PM

**Southern Sector Headquarters**

 

* * *

 

“These phones...” Michelle groaned, sliding her hand down her face, “They’re blowin’ me, y’all.” She slumped against the desk, knocking papers forward in her plight. Briar Rose hummed, though it was barely audible among the constant ringing of the phones lined up on the table, as well as the beeping of the radar shown on the large screens above the desk.

The employees of this particular room maneuvered around the group to answer the calls, and direct them to other departments while others tap rapidly on keyboards, following the radar’s movements. All around them, commotion is apparent, making them seem almost frozen with their trained focus.

“Ya know,” Nora-Lee crosses her arms, tapping a finger against her upper bicep, “If y’all have complaints, I done tol’ you many’a times now, keep’im fer the suggestion box.”

“Do I look like I ever write anything down?” Michelle asked, turning slightly to look at the woman, “I just complain aloud, it’s what I do best.”  She shrugged, grunting when the woman swatted her gently from her desk.

“Ya also take up space pretty well, too.” Nora-Lee counters, “I’ll let ya in on a li’l secret, sug,” Michelle perked up, “It’s quieter outside.”

“Are you kicking us out, Miss Nora-Lee, head of Secretarial Staff?” Michelle sat up almost completely, “Say it ain’t so!”

“Augh, you know, Nora-Lee, head of Secretarial Staff,” Briar Rose interjected, “We wouldn’t even be here if we were able to just... j-just punch!” She threw her hands up in the air, “If we could just punch the behemoth creature, known as a hollow by many, feared among the lands as a spirit-eater. Destroyer of ecosystems not native to itself. If we could just do  _ that _ ... we could get out of your Texan hair, Nora-Lee, head of Secretarial Staff.”

“No need for full titles. I’m havin’ t’ deal with all these calls makin’ this place a Gumbo-yaya an’ y’all are makin’ it worse! At least dear Maggie, the li’l sweet pea, ain’t talkin’ as loudly as y’all are!”  Maggie idly blinked from her spot at a computer, barely paying attention to the conversation that was going on around her.

“That’s because Maggie’s doin’ nerd stuff.” Briar Rose rolled her eyes, glancing at her sister. Engrossed in her work, Maggie pulled away from the computer for a slight moment, looking from her sister to Nora-Lee and back again.

“So far, there is an estimated 450 missing spirits reported since the arrival of the hollow.” Maggie informed them, “And yet we are still unable to do anything but attempt to capture it. And all attempts have not been successful.  I’m starting to believe that they are unable to be caught and we are on what one would call,  _ a wild goose chase. _ ”

“More like a wild hollow chase,” Michelle mumbled, nose upturned in a distasteful manner.

“That really sucks, but I’m tired of being tossed around by that thing!” Ricky whined, twisting from side to side in his computer chair, “I mean, c’mon, I wouldn’t be that mad if we was able to, as Briar said, punch the thing, but we have to play ‘special snowflake’ with that monster until these high ‘n mighty people give us the O-K to do somethin’.”

“What’s the difference between this and a regular ghostie to you, Ricky? You still get smacked around, regardless. And who ends up saving you? Me, with my awesome shields and Bri with her punching.”

“Oh, you act like you did  _ so _ much when Briar got possessed back in August.” Ricky rolled his eyes, “I might get tossed around, but at least I fight.” 

“Yeah, you fight a losin’ battle.” Michelle grinned, “Or, should I remind you of your previous flops?” Ricky squawked, pinching Michelle on the arm, to which she yelps, moving to slap him, but he slides out of her range, laughing until his chair hits a wire and flips over. With a yelp, Ricky hits the ground and one of the TV monitors goes off.

“Haha! You dumbass!” Michelle laughed, pointing at him, “That’s what you get!”

“And here’s what you get!” Ricky quickly jumped up, running over to Michelle’s chair. Michelle yelps, quickly removing herself from her chair and running, although, she doesn’t get very far before she too, ends up falling over their pile of backpacks.

Ricky snickered, before breaking off into full-on laughter that alerts Briar Rose, who had been ignoring them rather wholly in favor of using an open computer to hack the school’s feed. 

Looming above Michelle was Nora-Lee, who looked more than annoyed at the two of them. “Y’all heathens need to leave!” Nora-Lee pointed at the door, “An’ yer all banned from comin’ back! Boy, I oughtta tell all yer parents ‘bout this whole mess! Especially yers, Ricky!”

“Aw, _c’mon_ , Gnarly!” Ricky popped his collar, trying to slide over to Nora-Lee, “I didn’t do nothin’! I’m the victim!”

“The only victim here is my eyes for having to watch you pop the collar of that gaudy shirt! I swear, y’all really know how t’ butter a biscuit with acid! The four of you, out!” Nora-Lee griped.

Briar Rose helped Michelle up, while Ricky grabs the majority of the bags slowly, and Maggie followed up the rear, clearly the most perturbed of the group. Nora-Lee slammed the door in their faces. “Guys, you couldn’t wait until I found Josh on the camera?”

“Ricky, I can not believe you did that. Do you know how important that information is? I was almost done scouring the video for information!”

“This isn’t all my fault, you know.” Ricky pouted, “This asshole had just as big a part in it as I did!”

“At least I didn’t unplug a monitor.” Michelle snickered. “Nora-Lee, head of Secretarial Staff is right, though, that shirt is hideous and your collar makes you look stupid. Where’s the clown music?”

  
“Yeah, you didn’t unplug a monitor, you unplugged three.” Briar Rose informed her, flicking the girl on her arm, “We can’t take either of you anywhere, can we?”

“Wait,” Michelle pauses, “Did you say you were lookin’ for  _ Josh _ on one of the computers?” Briar Rose looked away, “Honey, he’s not that good looking. Honestly, I don’t mean to sound ridiculous but, if I saw that man on the street, I wouldn’t even stop walking.”

“Ignoring the fact that you just said the love of my life isn’t that good looking,” Briar Rose cleared her throat, “I feel that we should make a formal complaint to the Commander. Partially because we’re being kept out of the loop, and partially because I’m really bored and our training room is being renovated, so we can’t go there.”

“We could call him to a debriefing room, couldn’t we? His office is so far, and the debrief rooms are so much closer.” Michelle tried, “I really don’t wanna walk.”

“Which debrief room, though? Debrief room twelve?” Ricky stroked his chin, “It’s the closest.”

“Nah, he’s not allowed in that one. It’d have to be room five.” Briar Rose corrected him.

“What happened in room twelve again?”

“The Commander happened. Remember, he broke the table?” Maggie informed them, “The number of debriefing rooms that he is able to use is on a steady decline. Soon enough, the Head Scientist will be standing next to him at every debriefing just to ensure he doesn’t break any more equipment.”

“I believe it. Ugh, what a power couple.” Michelle threw a hand over her forehead, “Amazing troupe. Strong, tough dumbass is soft for the really smart person. I ship them, you know? Wish they were an actual couple. I can’t get enough of it.”

“In Briar’s case it would be strong, tough dumbass is soft for an equally stupid ass person.” Ricky continued on, adding to the conversation, “Really, what do you even see in Josh? You know he doesn’t eat vegetables?”

“We can forgive him for his mistakes.” Briar Rose wagged her finger, “The debriefing room is our best option. If we go directly to his office first, he’ll dock our pay.”

“You get paid?” Ricky and Michelle yelped, incredulous.

“You stole my joke, you absolute—hey! Bri, you know I love a strong woman, but now is  _ not _ the time!” Michelle’s voice cracks as she’s lifted and thrown over Briar Rose’s shoulder.

* * *

“How long did we wait in that debriefing room?” Michelle drawled, dragging her feet behind Briar Rose and Maggie. Ricky walks beside her normally, giving her a rather nasty look before turning forward. “It feels like forever.”

“It was about thirty minutes,” Maggie informed her, looking down at her watch, “However, I can agree with you. Usually, the Commander is more...prompt with answering our calls. Rather odd, if I’m asked.”

“He would’ve at least sent a note in the form of Ven or somethin’ like that.” Briar Rose frowned, “What could be so important? He better not get mad cause we’re comin’ up t’ his office.”

“What if he’s playing mini-golf with my dad again?” Ricky chimed in, “Made us wait, and for what? Because he’s plus seventeen on hole five.”

“Well, we’re here, so we’ll find out. Let us hope he isn’t playing mini-golf, he’ll be getting an earful if he is.” Maggie and Briar Rose stopped in front of the large and intricately designed double doors leading into the Commander’s office. Briar Rose lifts her wrist to the panel on the door, holding it there for a few seconds before the doors slide open, revealing a rather empty office.

“Wha—he’s not even here!” Michelle yelled, “I was expecting, at least, some kind of set up of his usual nonsense, but this is disappointing. There’s nothing in here but the desk and books!”

“Thank you,” Rick began, “Thank you for the play by play. Even though all of us, as you are aware, can see. I didn’t know that was a desk, and I didn’t know those were books. Can you please tell me, O wise one—”

“Ricky, don’t agitate her.” Maggie turned to her cousin, “I can agree, I am disappointed as well. If he wasn’t going to be here, he would have told us.” Ricky frowned, crossing his arms.

“Oh, girls, Ricky.” From behind the desk, a woman appeared, in her hands, she held a tablet and smiled warmly at them, “I wasn’t expecting to see you all here.”

“Yeah,” Briar Rose spoke up, “We came up here lookin’ for the Commander. We dispatched for him to come to a debrief room—”

“Which one? You know he’s only allowed in debrief rooms two and five.” She quickly interjected, her eyes darting from one person to the next.

“It was debriefing room five, Head Scientist.” Maggie placated the woman, “Do you know where the Commander has gone?”

“He’s actually having a meeting in New York with the other Sector Commanders about the hollow problem. I’m taking the time that he is away to upgrade the equipment in here so that he is unable to break things anymore. Wishful it is, as all my chickens have hatched from eggs.”

“It’s _ ‘don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched’ _ , but I understand.” Maggie approached the desk, “If he’s in the meeting, then that must mean they’re making a decision, correct?”

“I should be hoping so.” The Head Scientist responded, “How fortunate we are not, that I was not able to wire him so that I may have knowledge of the conversation they are currently having. That Leo-Ben is such a horse with a steel butt! He still does not allow any types of electronic devices in his meetings. This is why his building caught fire with all that paper.”

“How ironic, considering his sector carries a lot of our technology too.” Maggie commented offhandedly, “I guess this trip was a waste. We won’t know anything until he comes back from the meeting.”

“The meeting needs to hurry up, then!” Michelle threw her hands up, “I don’t want to spend another minute here, but we couldn’t go  _ home _ , so we came  _ here _ and now we can’t even go to our usual spot because it’s being fixed and the Commander’s not even here, so we can’t bother  _ him _ ...this is  _ not _ how I envisioned my Friday afternoon.”

“Suck your feelings inside, Michelle.” The Head Scientist rolled her eyes, “He left while school was still in session for you all, he will be back at any moment...I think.”

“We could go wait in the tele-bay?” Ricky suggested, “That way when he comes back—”

“Absolutely not.” The Head Scientist cut him off completely, “You guys can not be going near to any of my best devices unsupervised. The tele-bay? Ricky, are you in need of help to find your lost mind?”

“Right...uh, then I guess we can post up in here? If you’ll allow it, O great Head Scientist.”

“Only for a little bit.”

* * *

Friday,

September 21st, 2018

6:47:50 PM

**East Coast Sector Main Headquarters,**

**New York, New York**

 

* * *

 

The air in the room was stale as the few individuals had been there since that morning, deliberating, arguing, and unfortunately not coming to any kind of consensus. Irritated glances were thrown at one another, and snide remarks were huffed under puffs of air.  The agitation in the room could become a blazing fire with just a simple spark from a fuse. It was reaching the evening, and with stiff necks and heavy stress weighing their shoulders, it was time for them all to make some kind of decision.

“We’ve exhausted all of our options.” Commander Fleur spoke first, elbows perched on the table and a heavy hand under his chin. “As the majority of this hollow’s activity has been centered within my division and Commander Dąbrowski’s division, the ecosystems within our regions are affected the most.”  His serious gaze darted sharply around the room, meeting each individual's eyes with a look of utter exhaustion and exasperation with the situation.

“An estimated 450 souls combined from our regions have been taken, and this is just from this week alone, the amount of spirits that have been eaten by the hollow since it’s discovery is staggering, to say the least.” Commander Dąbrowski continues, “This is why we are pushing for involvement from the Japan Branch. We are unsure how this hollow will evolve with its continued supply of nutrients. Commander Vanderweit, Commander Bennett, this problem cannot be ignored any longer.”

Commanders Vanderweit and Bennett were quiet for a moment, the former turning and looking at the printout charts, then to the handouts in front of her. She brushed some of her hair behind her ear, then looked to Commander Fleur, “I agree.” She simply says, “What sucks is we can’t even destroy the fuck. I bet Captain Briar Rose was pretty upset about that, huh?”

“Indeed, she was.” The Commander smiled tensely before he turned his gaze onto Commander Bennett, “Being unable to deal with it ourselves, we have definitely oversimplified our problem, thinking that it will handle itself and die out, but with the abundance of spirits here, the problem has only worsened. Commander Bennett, your thoughts?”

“Very well,” Commander Bennett clears his throat, “You are the Branch Head, even if I were to refute your course of action, your say vetos mine out.”

“Commander Bennett, we came to you to ask your opin—” Commander Fleur holds up a hand, prematurely stopping Commander Dąbrowski’s rant.

“While I may be the current Branch Head,  _ Leopold _ , I  _ do _ value what the three of you have to say on matters concerning the whole of our branch. If I did  _ not _ , we would not be having this meeting.” 

Commander Vanderweit’s eyebrows rose keenly, as she looked between the Branch Head and Commander Leopold.  Red in the face, Leopold tsked, rolling his eyes and slouching in his seat. The white-haired woman bit the tip of her thumb, chancing a look at Commander Dąbrowski who appeared as if he was trying to avoid eye contact with her. Boring. She loved it when the Branch Head got assertive and she needed someone to share this moment with.

“Proceed, then, Branch Commander Fleur. We will follow your lead.” Leopold clears his throat, “I’ve had this briefing room updated with basic technologies, you should have no problem making the call here.” Leopold presses a button on the table. Replacing the hard oak of the long conference table is a digital screen, and in front of Commander Fleur, popped up a small box with commands listed.

Clicking through the commands, Commander Fleur landed on one final option, which he pressed. A screen popped up in the middle of the table, with a moving depiction of a phone. The trilling of a ringing line left them in silence for a moment. “This table’s nice, how’d you get her to agree to come out to install it?” Commander Vanderweit commented by way of a compliment, “It’s even got spot protectors for drinks.” She lifts her drink up, “I’m very impressed.”

“Now is not the time, Charlotte.” Commander Dąbrowski frowns, “Though I am also surprised, considering the obvious and apparent dislike she holds.”

“Some people don’t let their personal feelings on a person carry over into their work.” Commander Fleur commented and Commander Leopold grunted in annoyance. Charlotte verbally reacts, though no one is able to respond as the line finally picks up.

The screen shows a traditional Japanese-styled room, standing in front of a sakura themed wallpaper is a woman who appears to be in her mid-thirties. She brushes back some of her short pink hair,  _ "Soul Society, Japan Branch. First Division member Sayoko Haruka. How may I help?" _

_ "Ah, yes. Hello, Haruka-san." _ Commander Fleur immediately switched to Japanese, though it was a little bit rusty,  _ "This is Branch Commander Fleur of the North American Branch, and..." _

* * *

 

Saturday,

September 22nd, 2018

3:25:15 PM

**Karakura Town, Japan**

* * *

Another hollow defeated, and Ichigo slunk home. From the constant hollow attacks, and the school work piling up in favor of defeating these hollows, his part-time job and playing sports for cash, Ichigo was tired. He approached his door, pulling out his keys and fumbling with them for a moment, though he belatedly realized he didn’t even have to, as the door swung open and out flew his father. Ichigo sidestepped, allowing the man to fling himself out of the house and down the steps onto the pavement. 

Not even bothering with an answer to his father’s cries and calls, Ichigo slips his shoes off, stepping further into the house. “Dinner’s gonna be ready soon!” With a radiant smile on her face, Yuzu called from the kitchen, peeking her head around the corner by way of a greeting.   Ichigo grunted in response, taking his time going up the steps, his muscles groaning in exhaustion.

Pushing open the door to his room, Ichigo tossed his bag onto the bed, almost missing the squeak of pain as he removed his school jacket. The heavy school bag flew across the room, hitting him against the back, stopping him completely from continuing his after-hours routine. With a startled gasp, he turned, seeing Rukia sitting on his bed with an annoyed expression on her face.

“What are you doing here?” Ichigo asked, eyes wide as he relaxed his stance, shoulders slouching and heart calming down to a reasonable beats per minute. Rukia glared at him, jumping up from the bed and smoothed the fabric against her frame. Ichigo noted that she was still wearing her shinigami uniform, making it obvious that this was more of a business call rather than a social one.

“You don’t sound very happy to see me, Ichigo.” Rukia frowned, looking him over with a small smile against her thin lips, “We haven’t met in a while and this is how you treat me? A bag thrown at my face and not even a proper greeting?  Or, have I fallen behind the times again? Maybe this is an appropriate way to greet a friend, so I know you’ll excuse me for returning the gesture.” Her eyes trailed to the bag that she launched back at him, and Ichigo rolled his eyes, picking it up and placing it in its correct place.

“You should be greeting me!” Ichigo countered, “You came into my room, unannounced,  _ uninvited _ , might I add. You’re lucky all you got was a bag thrown at you.  Fight or flight can be a bitch sometimes.” Ichigo plopped to the floor, crossing his legs underneath him and propped his hands against his knees.  “I’m tired, give me a break.”

“Well, that’s not my problem.” Rukia shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest and turning her nose to the air. “Don’t disrespect me, I’m your senior! I’m equally as tired, if not more.”  She conceded, and Ichigo snorted, scratching his cheek with a less than empathetic countenance.

“Oh, right.  I’m  _ so _ sorry,  _ grandma _ .” Ichigo mocked, making a move to get up from the floor with the intention of helping the old, tired, woman back to her seat on the bed. “I’ll show my respect righ—ow!”

“Don’t be a smart ass.” Rukia lowered her sword sheath, frowning at him. “After I came all this way to retrieve you, this is the thanks I get. I could’ve left you here uninformed.”

“Retrieve me for what?” Ichigo ignored her comments, still rubbing the tender spot against his head.  “Urahara hasn’t sent a message out...has he?” Ichigo pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking the screen. The only notifications he sees are from Orihime and the others, and a few apps he hasn’t checked, “He hasn’t, so what’s this about?”

“We were sent to gather you all at Urahara’s.” Rukia answered, “We’ll be the last to arrive since you decided to return home so late today, so, we need to hurry up. I’m not sure what it’s about, as only captains know about the situation, but we’re supposed to be told soon enough.”  Ichigo gives the girl a pensive look, trying to figure out what this impromptu meeting could be about.

“Fine, let me change first, then.” Ichigo sighed, running a hand through his hair, “I just can’t catch a break with you guys...there’s always a problem.”

* * *

Saturday,

September 22nd, 2018

3:45:15 PM

**Urahara Shoten**

* * *

When they arrived at Urahara Shoten, the two were greeted in the storefront by Jinta, who looks positively livid to be manning the front counter. So, perhaps greeted wasn’t the best term to use, more like threatened. He grunted at them, barely turning his eyes away from watching the front door with a grimace that reminded Ichigo of a bulldog. The two quickly pass by the boy, who was muttering under his breath about missing practice for this nonsense, but neither of them offer much response.

“He seems to get nastier and nastier each time I see him,” Rukia commented, taking off her shoes at the step. Ichigo mimicked her actions, nodding as they enter through the small curtain.  He made sure that they were out of earshot before he said anything else.

“It’s probably because he’s so short and his hair is so high.” Ichigo offered as an explanation. The two make their way down the hallway and into the main sitting room of Urahara’s house. Without much fanfare, the two entered the room, and Ichigo noticed that Uryu, Sado and Orihime were all there, along with Renji, Urahara, Yoruichi, and Tessai.

Most of them were seated in front of a large screen, with a few occupying the low, brown table.  On the screen, Ichigo could see that the captains of the Soul Society and their lieutenants were gathered in an expansive, tan walled room, lined up information. “What’s going on?” Ichigo asked, confusion clear in his voice. 

“So good of you to finally join us!” Urahara fanned himself, a wide grin on his face as he ushered the two inside. “I thought maybe you two got lost on the road to romance or something like that. Have a seat, have a seat! We’re just getting started!”

“That doesn’t sound ominous at all.” Ichigo wandered over to the table, seating himself near Sado. Rukia sits down near Orihime, and Urahara smiled at the group before turning his attention to the screen.

“Now that we’re all here, how about we let everyone in on what’s going on.” Urahara clapped his hands, “Help yourselves to some tea and snacks, we pulled out the good kind today.” His fan snapped shut as he gestured to the array of snacks laid out for them.  Without waiting for much, Orihime grabs a cookie off of the platter while and Sado sips at the cup of tea placed in front of him.

Captain-Commander Yamamoto cleared his throat, his eyes scanning from the occupants of his own room before doing the same to the others on the screen. “We’ve received a troubling distress call from the North American Branch.”

“North American Branch?” Urahara repeated, fanning himself, “Now that’s a group of people I haven’t heard about in a while.”

“What’s that?” Orihime is bold enough to ask, turning her gaze more towards Urahara than the screen, “Who is it?” It was a question that all of them had, made apparent by the group casting several looks at one another. This was a shock to most of them, even the two lieutenants were puzzled by the news.

“The North American Branch is another sector of the Soul Society.” Urahara answers, “Just as the name suggests, they’re based in North America. Though, generally due to being in different countries, they’re ruled by different entities.”

“Generally,” Yoruichi adds in, “The different branches don’t speak with each other. Regarding matters in their territory, all the branches thought it best to remain in seclusion.”

“Well, that’s stupid,” Ichigo mumbled under his breath. Excluding people from certain things was the basis of most of the problems he’d been involved in since getting his powers.  They all did the same things, right? It was more than a bit odd that neither of the soul societies wanting anything to do with one another.

“But if the branches don’t interact, why are they contacting the Japanese Branch for help?” Sado cut in with a frown, “Does this problem have to do with this branch?”

“Unfortunately, it does.” Captain-Commander Yamamoto apprised.  “Their call was about a hollow manifesting in their territory. Due to the rules of how hollows need to be handled, they are unable to take care of it themselves, thus resulting in them asking for our assistance.”

“So, why are you telling us about this?” Ichigo asked, trying to wrap his head around this new information.  There was a lot that he wanted to ask for clarification about, but he knew that this wasn’t the time or the place.  He didn’t even know there were certain rules or regulations regarding how hollows had to be dealt with.  _ Man, must be frustrating for them not to be able to do anything about it.  _  “What are we supposed to do about it?”

“Due to the unique nature of their branch, we have come to a decision regarding your group and its involvement in Soul Society affairs. As you are legally recognized as a Substitute Shinigami,  we have thought it best to approach you in hopes that you may agree to our proposition.”

“You...You’re not suggesting we...go over there, are you?” Uryu beat Ichigo to the punch, abstaining from commenting on the Captain Commanders' use of the term  _ unique nature _ .  Another question, for another time. “To go to America to help them fight off a hollow?”  It sounded way more ridiculous as he said it aloud. Obviously, they dealt with souls all the time since they  _ were _ a soul society. 

“Your trip expenses would be paid for, and the North American Branch has offered housing to you, among other things for the duration of your stay should you choose to accept.” Captain-Commander Yamamoto informed them, unperturbed by the obvious disdain coming from a few in the room. “Would you be willing to represent our branch, Kurosaki Ichigo?”

“W-Wait, why are you only asking me?” Ichigo jumped up a little, “There's a few other people in this room, too, you know.”

“Well,” Urahara tapped his chin, “I already said I was going...so there’s no need to ask me twice.”

“I’ll go if Ichigo is going.” Sado speaks up, “It could be fun.”  Ichigo shot him a look of disbelief that he would say that, putting all of the pressure on him.  Sado gave a small smile, shrugging his large shoulders.

“Me too, me too!” Orihime raised her hand, waving it back and forth in excitement. “We can bring back a ton of souvenirs!”

“If Orihime and Sado are going, then I suppose I’ll have to as well,” Uryu sighed, adjusting his glasses before resting his head on his open palm, “Someone has to keep these two in line.”

All eyes are drawn expectantly to Ichigo, as they wait with bated breath for a response from him. Ichigo thought it over momentarily. It  _ would _ , technically, be like a vacation. Track down a hollow, defeat it, maybe stay a few more days then come home, easy. He looks at Orihime first, noting the pleading in her big brown eyes, then to Sado, who isn’t outwardly showing his pleading, but Ichigo’s known him long enough that he can just tell. Even Uryu, who usually is very good at hiding his feelings is showing blatant curiosity at the prospect of going to America.

His gaze floats over to Rukia, similar to Uryu, though different, Ichigo can see her practically vibrating in her seat. He sighed, nodding in defeat, “Fine, I’ll go.”

Orihime cheers loudly until Uryu has her quiet down in favor of hearing the Captain Commander speak. “You’ll be going along with a few members from the Soul Society as well,” He clears his throat, “More details will be given as we contact the branch and finalize the plans. Expect to hear from us within the week.”

With little else to say, the Captain Commander bids them farewell and the screen goes dark immediately after. Ichigo leaned back on his hands, sighing heavily. “How do we always get roped into their nonsense?”

“You could’ve said no, you brat.” Renji finally speaks up with a roll of his eyes.

“And you could’ve stayed quiet, you freeloader.” Ichigo glared at him, “But I’m surprised...I didn’t know there were other branches like that. North America Branch, huh? Does that mean there’s a South American one too?”

“Aside from our branch and the North American, there are a total of six other branches.” Yoruichi swished her tail from side to side, “Did you think that Japan was special or something?”

“Well...We weren’t told any different.” Ichigo frowned. “I just assumed all the souls came here...or something.”

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t aware of other branches either.” Rukia chimed in, “This is new information to me too, however, it seems like everyone else knew about the existence of these other branches.”

“Enough about that, we can talk about it when we get there!” Urahara butted in, pulling out a few pieces of paper, sliding them across the table to the humans in the room, “You’ll need to sign these permission slips!”

Uryu gingerly picks up the slip, as does Ichigo. He looks it over, “This looks like a four-year-old typed it up.” He blanched, “There’s no way in hell my dad is gonna sign this.”

“Well, you’ll just have to figure it out, Mr. Kurosaki!” Urahara beamed at him, “Because I’m not rewriting it. Also, I don’t appreciate what you’re saying about my permission slips, I took three minutes out of my day to type them up and this is the response I get? See if I do anything nice for you again.”

“Three minutes? It looks like this took less than thirty seconds. You spelled permission wrong...four times. And each time, it was a different way.” Uryu pointed to the paper, “I’m really starting to wonder whether you’re a mastermind genius or you’re only smart sometimes and only on some topics.”

“Aside from that, Rukia, are you and Renji going?” Ichigo dropped the paper back onto the table, “He said some from the Soul Society were going.”

“Yes, as a matter of fact!” Rukia grinned, puffing out her chest, “I was picked exclusively to go. _Handpicked_ by the Captain Commander himself. An honor and a privilege.”

“We were  _ all _ just _handpicked_ by the Captain Commander to go. It’s not that special.” Ichigo rolled his eyes, “At least you don’t have to tell your brother where you’re going because he already knows. I have to come up with some kind of story for my sisters.”

“You could use my permission slip!” Urahara dangled the paper in front of him, “I’ll fix the spelling mistakes!”

“I’m not doing that.” Ichigo pushed his hand away, “There’s no way anybody would believe a ‘persimmon’ slip to ‘Amerca’.” 

“I _said_ I’ll fix it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe Urahara can't spell basic words. I'm shocked.


End file.
